NIST Compliance Consulting for Federal Contractors and Regulated Industries

Our NIST 800-171 assessment evaluates your organization against all 110 security requirements across 14 control families: Access Control, Awareness and Training, Audit and Accountability, Configuration Management, Identification and Authentication, Incident Response, Maintenance, Media Protection, Personnel Security, Physical Protection, Risk Assessment, Security Assessment, System and Communications Protection, and System and Information Integrity. Every requirement is scored, gaps are documented with specific remediation actions, and findings are prioritized by risk and CMMC impact.

The assessment deliverables include a detailed gap analysis report, a scored System Security Plan (SSP) documenting how each requirement is met or planned, a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) with specific remediation tasks and timelines, and a SPRS score calculation for submission to the DoD Supplier Performance Risk System. For organizations pursuing CMMC certification, we align the assessment methodology with CMMC Assessment Guide procedures so you know exactly where you stand before an assessor arrives.

Remediation services include technical implementation of security controls, policy and procedure development, network architecture changes for CUI boundary definition, multi-factor authentication deployment, encryption implementation, endpoint detection and response deployment, SIEM configuration, and staff training on security awareness and CUI handling procedures.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides a flexible, risk-based approach to managing cybersecurity risk that applies to organizations of any size and sector. We help organizations adopt CSF by developing current-state and target-state profiles across the five core functions: Identify (asset management, risk assessment, governance), Protect (access control, training, data security), Detect (continuous monitoring, anomaly detection), Respond (incident planning, communications, mitigation), and Recover (recovery planning, improvements, communications).

Our CSF implementation begins with a maturity assessment using NIST-defined implementation tiers, from Tier 1 (Partial) through Tier 4 (Adaptive). We work with your leadership team to establish a target tier for each function, develop a prioritized roadmap to reach those targets, and implement the technical and organizational controls needed to achieve them. The CSF provides an excellent foundation that maps directly to more prescriptive frameworks like NIST 800-53, ISO 27001, and HIPAA, making it an ideal starting point for organizations that anticipate future compliance requirements.

Deliverables include a CSF Profile document, risk assessment results, gap analysis, implementation roadmap, and ongoing maturity measurement against your target state.

The NIST Risk Management Framework provides the structured process federal agencies and their contractors use to authorize information systems for operation. RMF replaces the legacy Certification and Accreditation (C&A) process and follows a seven-step lifecycle: Prepare, Categorize, Select, Implement, Assess, Authorize, and Monitor. Each step produces specific artifacts that the Authorizing Official reviews before granting an Authority to Operate (ATO).

Petronella Technology Group, Inc. guides organizations through the complete RMF lifecycle. We begin with system categorization using FIPS 199 and NIST SP 800-60, select appropriate security controls from the NIST 800-53 catalog based on the system's impact level (Low, Moderate, or High), implement those controls across your technical infrastructure and organizational processes, and prepare the Security Assessment Report (SAR) and authorization package. Our team has experience navigating the RMF process across multiple federal agencies and understands the documentation standards and evidence requirements each agency expects.

For organizations operating systems that require continuous ATO (cATO), we implement automated compliance monitoring, vulnerability management, and continuous reporting capabilities that satisfy ongoing authorization requirements without manual evidence collection cycles.

NIST Special Publication 800-53 Revision 5 is the most comprehensive security and privacy control catalog published by the federal government. It contains over 1,000 controls organized into 20 control families, covering everything from access control and audit logging to supply chain risk management and personally identifiable information processing. Federal agencies are required to implement 800-53 controls under FISMA, and many private-sector organizations adopt them voluntarily as a best-practice security framework.

We help organizations select the appropriate control baseline (Low, Moderate, or High) based on system categorization, tailor the baseline to their specific environment, implement each control through technical configuration, process definition, or organizational policy, and document the implementation in a format that satisfies Security Assessment and Authorization (SA&A) requirements. Our implementation methodology ensures each control is not just documented but actually operating effectively and producing the evidence needed for assessment.

For organizations subject to FedRAMP, we align 800-53 implementation with FedRAMP Moderate or High baselines and prepare the documentation package cloud service providers need for Joint Authorization Board (JAB) or agency authorization.

The Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) requires federal agencies and their contractors to develop, document, and implement information security programs based on NIST standards. FISMA compliance is assessed annually through a combination of inspector general audits, continuous diagnostics and mitigation (CDM) metrics, and agency-specific reporting requirements. Non-compliance results in findings that can affect agency funding, contractor eligibility, and system authorization.

Petronella Technology Group, Inc. helps agencies and contractors achieve and maintain FISMA compliance by implementing the required NIST 800-53 controls, establishing continuous monitoring programs that feed agency CDM dashboards, preparing documentation for annual FISMA assessments, remediating findings from inspector general audits and security assessments, and training staff on security responsibilities and incident reporting procedures.

Our FISMA compliance services integrate with your existing RMF authorization process to ensure security assessment documentation serves both authorization and FISMA reporting requirements. No duplicate effort, no conflicting documentation.

NIST SP 800-137 establishes the framework for Information Security Continuous Monitoring (ISCM) that transforms compliance from a periodic assessment into an ongoing operational discipline. We implement ISCM programs that include automated vulnerability scanning on defined frequencies, security event monitoring and analysis through SIEM, configuration management and drift detection, access review and privilege management, patch management with compliance tracking, and incident response testing and tabletop exercises.

Our continuous monitoring service provides your organization with real-time visibility into your security and compliance posture. Monthly reports document control effectiveness, vulnerability trends, remediation progress, and any new risks identified. Quarterly reviews with your leadership team ensure the security program evolves with your business, technology changes, and the threat landscape. When assessment time arrives, your documentation is current, your evidence is automated, and your team is prepared.

For defense contractors subject to CMMC, our continuous monitoring program ensures the 110 NIST 800-171 requirements remain implemented and effective between triennial assessments, preventing the compliance degradation that catches many organizations off guard when reassessment time arrives.