NIST Special Publication 800-53 provides a comprehensive and flexible set of security and privacy controls that organizations in the public and private sector can use to protect sensitive information systems and information.

Because of its broad applicability and comprehensiveness, many compliance frameworks and standards overlap with NIST 800-53, making it possible and easy to map controls between them. This article explores how various frameworks map to NIST 800-53 and how organizations can use these mappings to streamline their compliance and security programs.

Let’s start with a definition of control mapping.

A quick overview of control mapping

Control mapping is the process of mapping controls that meet the requirements of one framework to the requirements of another framework in order to identify common controls. 

Many security, privacy, and compliance frameworks have common controls because they were created for similar purposes or types of organizations and protect against common threats. This is particularly true for NIST 800-53. Designed to help organizations of all types, sizes, and industries identify what security and privacy controls they need to manage a diverse set of changing threats and risks and meet diverse requirements, this framework provides the core set of controls for other federal frameworks like NIST 800-171 and many more and overlaps with many sector-agnostic security frameworks as well. 

Because common controls only need to be implemented and tested once to validate that they are effective, organizations can use these results as evidence of adherence to requirements across multiple frameworks. For example, implementing and testing NIST 800-53 controls from the Access Control, Incident Response, Contingency Planning, and Configuration Management families, among others, can help meet requirements for many frameworks including, but not limited to; NIST 800-171, NIST CSF, CMMC, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and CJIS. 

That means NIST 800-53 can be a great starting point for many organizations who need to comply with multiple laws, regulations, and standards now or in the future as their business and customers scale. By complying with such a comprehensive framework like NIST 800-53, they’ll be able significantly simplify and speed up the process of complying with other frameworks using control mapping — they may even be compliant with other frameworks and not know it. 

Let’s take a closer look at the benefits of control mapping below.

Why control mapping is important

Why control mapping is important

Mapping controls between NIST 800-53 and other security frameworks enables organizations to streamline compliance — but the benefits go beyond speed to compliance. 

When an organization is required to comply with multiple frameworks, leveraging control mapping can unlock a range of benefits, including:

• Efficiency: Control mapping helps reduce duplicate work by allowing organizations to implement and test a single control to meet multiple compliance requirements.
• Cost savings: Control mapping can not only help reduce the complexity of compliance — it can also help reduce the cost by decreasing the resources needed to implement and maintain compliance across multiple frameworks.
• Consistency: Control mapping ensures security controls are implemented and tested uniformly across frameworks, helping to improve overall security effectiveness.
• Simplified audits: Control mapping makes it easier to demonstrate compliance with multiple standards, reducing the time and effort needed for audits and assessments.
• Building out a compliance roadmap: By helping organizations identify overlap as well as gaps across frameworks, control mapping can help them decide which frameworks to pursue compliance for and when.
• Winning more deals: By speeding up time-to-compliance for multiple frameworks, control mapping can help organizations win more deals with customers across industries and segments with different regulatory and framework requirements. 
• Enhancing security: Control mapping enables organizations to scale their compliance program efficiently, meaning they implement more controls covered by multiple frameworks. This results in enhanced security.
• Enhancing risk management: Control mapping can help identify areas of priority that were not addressed by any compliance or regulatory requirement, therefore enhancing an organization's risk management strategy. 

Now that we understand why control mapping can help your organization implement a compliance program that meets multiple regulatory and industry requirements efficiently, let’s look at the different approaches you can take to the process. 

How organizations can map controls to NIST 800-53

Organizations looking to map controls to NIST 800-53 have several approaches that range in complexity and manual effort. 

1. Map controls manually

Organizations can manually map NIST 800-53 controls to other framework requirements, but the process is time-consuming, labor-intensive, prone to errors, and requires significant expertise. 

Organizations would first have to compile the set of NIST 800-53 controls they wanted to map and the requirements laid out in the security framework they were interested in. They would then have to understand what exactly the requirement was asking the organization to implement and determine whether a NIST 800-53 control could meet this requirement. This can be incredibly challenging to do unless you have been performing audits or you have worked in internal compliance at an organization because typically requirements are either very specific and complex or broad and too general to know what exactly needs to be implemented.

To avoid the risks of under- and over-mapping, organizations typically must hire a GRC team and/or legal counsel (depending on the framework) to understand whether controls meet the intent of mapped requirements. This can dramatically increase business and compliance costs.

Furthermore, organizations would still need to implement a process to ensure that the controls were implemented, tested, and monitored over time to meet the requirements of NIST 800-53 and the other framework. 

2. Leverage public control mappings and crosswalks

There are some free, publicly available resources and tools that can help organizations reduce the burden of mapping controls themselves. NIST, for example, publishes and updates control mappings and crosswalks to provide a general indication of NIST 800-53 control coverage with respect to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, NIST Privacy Framework, and ISO/IEC 27001:2022. 

While this approach is more efficient than manual mapping, it still requires significant time, effort, and expertise to determine which NIST 800-53 controls are applicable and what additional work is needed to comply with the other framework. And organizations would still have to implement, document, test, and monitor these controls to achieve and maintain compliance. 

Also, there are only a limited number of public and updated control mappings and crosswalks from trusted authorities like NIST. So if you’re pursuing or have achieved compliance with NIST 800-53 and are also looking at a framework like GDPR, for example, then a control crosswalk would not be available to you. 

3. Use a compliance automation tool with pre-built mappings or control AI mapping

The most efficient method is using a tool that maps controls and tests across frameworks using automation and/or AI. 

Mapping controls between two frameworks is only one part of the process. Organizations must map the control set and underlying evidence and processes of NIST 800-53 to another framework in order to understand what additional work is required to comply with that framework and avoid wasting time on any redundant work. Tying to map both the control set and evidence of compliance with NIST 800-53 to another framework without the right tool is a significant operational burden. 

The best compliance automation tool can automatically map controls and tests across multiple frameworks, significantly reducing manual effort and improving accuracy. Since it will also automate the process of documenting and continuously monitoring these controls and tests, this approach ensures the fastest and most reliable way to achieve and maintain compliance with NIST 800-53 and additional frameworks.

Which frameworks map to NIST 800-53?

Since many security frameworks align with NIST 800-53, organizations can optimize their compliance strategies and roadmaps using control mapping. Below, we provide an overview of some of the most common frameworks, their relationship to NIST 800-53, and links to authoritative mapping documents from sources such as NIST and AICPA. 

Please note that these documents provide a general indication of control coverage, but they may be difficult or time-consuming to read through. A compliance automation tool like Secureframe will provide dashboards that clearly show which controls and tests map to which framework requirements. 

Please also note that this list is not exhaustive. Many other frameworks, including GDPR, PCI DSS, and COBIT 5, can be mapped to NIST 800-53. 

NIST 800-171 mapping to NIST 800-53

NIST 800-171 is designed to protect Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in non-federal systems and organizations. Like other federal frameworks, NIST 800-171 is derived from NIST 800-53. It contains a subset of NIST 800-53 controls tailored to be simpler and more focused for private sector entities that handle CUI but are not subject to full federal compliance requirements. More specifically, it contains 110 controls grouped into 14 families derived from NIST 800-53 whereas NIST 800-53 contains more than 1,000 controls organized into 20 families.

Since NIST 800-171 represents a subset of NIST 800-53 controls, there is no separate mapping document. Instead, you can view NIST 800-171 Special Publication to find a complete list of NIST 800-171 requirements, each listed with source controls. These source controls represent the NIST 800-53 controls that map to the NIST 800-171 requirement. You can also use NIST’s Cybersecurity and Privacy Reference Tool to see which source controls map to which NIST 800-171 requirements. 

CMMC mapping to NIST 800-53

The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) is the Department of Defense’s (DoD) framework for ensuring the protection of CUI across its supply chain. While CMMC specifies requirements from FAR 52.204-21 and NIST 800-172 for different certification levels, it aligns most closely with NIST SP 800-171. As mentioned above, this is a subset of NIST 800-53 tailored for non-federal systems handling CUI. 

So while the CMMC Model Overview document released by the DoD only lists the FAR Clause 52.204-21 paragraph numbers, NIST SP 800-171 Rev 2, or NIST SP

800-172 security requirement numbers associated with the CMMC security requirements for each domain and at each level, these can be mapped to NIST 800-53 controls. In fact, an organization that is compliant with the NIST 800-53 Moderate security control baseline is likely also compliant with CMMC 2.0. 

Note: The previous CMMC Model Overview document (Version 2) did include a table that listed the NIST 800-53 Rev 5 controls that mapped to each CMMC practice. 

FedRAMP mapping to NIST 800-53

The Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) establishes standardized security requirements for cloud service providers working with federal agencies. As a derivative of NIST Special Publication 800-53, FedRAMP uses the same baselines (Low, Moderate, High) and associated controls. However, FedRAMP baselines have additional requirements, parameters, and enhancements that cloud service providers must implement to achieve authorization.

Here is the official FedRAMP Baseline Security Controls document that maps FedRAMP requirements to NIST 800-53 controls.

GovRAMP mapping to NIST 800-53

GovRAMP (formerly known as StateRAMP) is modeled after FedRAMP but tailored for state agencies, local governments, and higher education institutions. Like FedRAMP, it is implemented using NIST 800-53 baselines and controls. Service providers working with state governments can use existing NIST 800-53 controls and control mapping to demonstrate compliance with GovRAMP security requirements.

Here is the document that maps GovRAMP requirements to NIST 800-53 Rev 5 controls.

TX-RAMP mapping to NIST 800-53

The Texas Risk and Authorization Management Program (TX-RAMP) is a framework that standardizes the risk management and authorization process for cloud services used by Texas state agencies, universities, and other institutions. It follows a similar model to FedRAMP and GovRAMP, with security requirements for certification levels 1 and 2 mapped to controls based on the NIST 800-53 Low and Moderate Impact Baselines. 

Here is the TX-RAMP Security Control Baselines document  provided by the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR), which lists out 

NIST 800-53 to CSF mapping

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) is designed to provide a high-level, flexible approach to managing cybersecurity risk. 

The latest version, NIST CSF 2.0, is organized into six key functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. Within each function, there are categories and subcategories that represent related cybersecurity outcomes. CSF does not prescribe how these outcomes should be achieved, but an organization can choose to implement NIST 800-53 controls to do so. 

NIST created a crosswalk mapping relevant controls within NIST 800-53 to CSF functions, categories, and subcategories, enabling organizations to have a starting point to use NIST 800-53 controls to implement NIST CSF.

Here is the crosswalk of all NIST 800-53 Revision 5 controls to NIST CSF 2.0 Subcategories, developed by NIST. 

CJIS mapping to NIST 800-53

The Criminal Justice Information Services (CJIS) Security Policy provides guidelines for protecting Criminal Justice Information (CJI) and Criminal History Record Information (CHRI). 

The latest version of the CJIS Security Policy, version 5.9.5, is grouped into 13 areas that address a different aspect of security and each have their own set of requirements. Each CJIS Security Policy requirement is mapped to specific NIST 800-53 controls. Doing so helps law enforcement agencies as well as contractors, vendors, and service providers that handle criminal justice information comply with CJIS Security Policy requirements and avoid legal penalties, security breaches, the loss of contracts with government agencies, and even criminal charges.

While the CJIS Information Security Officer (ISO) provides a document that maps CJIS requirements to a list of nearly 500 “best fit” NIST 800-53 rev. 5 controls, it can be hard to read and customize. We’ve created a user-friendly spreadsheet with tabs representing each CJIS policy area so you can more easily see which CJIS policy requirements map to which NIST 800-53 controls. Download it for free below.

CIS controls mapped to NIST 800-53

CIS Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls) offer a prioritized set of best practices to enhance cybersecurity. Many CIS controls map to NIST 800-53 controls, particularly in areas such as Access Control, Configuration Management, Incident Response, System and Information Integrity, and Risk Assessment. Organizations leveraging CIS controls can use this mapping to ensure alignment with federal cybersecurity standards while focusing on a set of straightforward security measures that can be implemented by organizations of all sizes.

Here is the document, created by the Center for Internet Security (CIS), that provides a detailed mapping of the relationships between CIS Controls v8 and NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5’s Moderate and Low baselines.

ISO 27001 mapping to NIST 800-53

ISO 27001 is an internationally recognized standard for information security. It prescribes 93 controls for organizations to establish, maintain, and continually improve their information security management system (ISMS). 

Similarly, NIST 800-53 is considered the gold standard for federal information security and stringent, particularly if implementing a higher security control baselines. Mapping ISO 27001 controls to NIST 800-53 allows organizations to meet the stringent requirements of both frameworks without duplicating work, while integrating global best practices with US federal security requirements.

Here is the crosswalk between the controls within NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5, SP 800-53B, and ISO/IEC 27001:2022, developed by NIST.

SOC 2 mapping to NIST 800-53

SOC 2 provides guidance on how organizations should protect customer data from unauthorized access, security incidents, and other vulnerabilities. This guidance is based on five Trust Services Criteria: security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality, and privacy.  With SOC 2, companies can choose which of the five AICPA Trust Services Criteria (TSC) to include in their audit, and design a system of internal controls that support their selected TSC.

Unlike ISO 27001 which prescribes specific controls, SOC 2 is more flexible, offering “points of focus” within each TSC to help companies implement controls. Organizations can use NIST 800-53 controls to support their selected TSC. Doing so can help organizations to achieve compliance with both federal and industry security standards while improving overall risk management.

Here is the mapping, provided by the AICPA, that compares the requirements of NIST 800-53 to the relevant categories within the 2017 Trust Services Criteria for Security, Availability, Processing Integrity, Confidentiality, and Privacy (With Revised Points of Focus — 2022) (2017 TSC).

HIPAA to NIST 800-53 mapping

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) mandates safeguards for protecting electronic protected health information (ePHI). Many of these administrative, technical, and physical safeguards align with NIST 800-53 controls. Organizations in the healthcare sector can use NIST 800-53 controls to achieve compliance with HIPAA and improve their overall cybersecurity posture.

Here is the mapping of the HIPAA Security Rule’s standards and implementation specifications to NIST SP 800-53 Revision 5 security controls, which is part of NIST’s Cybersecurity and Privacy Reference Tool.