Project Overview

Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) Implementation Project Overview

Protecting the Nation's Critical Information Infrastructure

The FISMA Implementation Project was established in January 2003 to produce several key security standards and guidelines required by Congressional legislation. These publications include FIPS 199, FIPS 200, and NIST Special Publications 800-53, 800-59, and 800-60, 800-160, 800-137, 800-18. Additional security guidance documents which support of the project including NIST Special Publications 800-37, 800-39, 800-171,800-171A, 800-53A and NIST Interagency Report 8011. It should be noted that the Computer Security Division continues to produce other security standards and guidelines in support of FISMA. These publications can be located by visiting the division's Publications page at: Publications.

Our Vision

To promote the development of key security standards and guidelines to support the implementation of and compliance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act including:

• Standards for categorizing information and systems by mission impact
• Standards for minimum security requirements for information and systems
• Guidance for selecting appropriate security controls for systems
• Guidance for assessing security controls in systems and determining security control effectiveness
• Guidance for the security authorization of systems
• Guidance for monitoring the security controls and the security authorization of systems

Leading To…

• The implementation of cost-effective, risk-based information security programs
• The establishment of a level of security due diligence for federal agencies and contractors supporting the federal government
• More consistent and cost-effective application of security controls across the federal information technology infrastructure
• More consistent, comparable, and repeatable security control assessments
• A better understanding of enterprise-wide mission risks resulting from the operation of systems
• More complete, reliable, and trustworthy information for authorizing officials--facilitating more informed security authorization decisions
• More secure systems within the federal government including the critical infrastructure of the United States