NIST, or The National Institute of Standards and Technology, is a federal agency responsible for ensuring the protection of classified information entrusted to private contractors or third party organizations. According to NIST their mission is to "promote U.S. innovation and industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology in ways that enhance economic security and improve our quality of life". One way that NIST promotes security is through the creation of frameworks such as NIST 800-171 to ensure the safety and handling of critical information.
A Summary of NIST 800-171
NIST 800-171 was created by NIST to help defense contractors protect "controlled unclassified information(CUI)". CUI includes personal information, intellectual property, and other federally protected information that is entrusted to third party organization. The goal of NIST 800-171 is to create a standardized system of protecting CUI across all federal agencies as a direct response to President Obama's 2010 executive order mandating more strict protection of CUI. Today NIST 800-171 is still implemented and included other regulations including CMMC.
The NIST 800-171 framework contains 110 controls divided into 14 "control families" listed below:
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