Brief Summary
This video provides an overview of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), its key components, drivers, and its impact on security compliance and regulation within the federal government. It covers the initial release of FISMA in 2002, its update in 2014, and the key expectations for agencies regarding risk management, security controls, and compliance reporting. The video also touches on the refinement of reporting requirements, enhanced focus on cyber breach notification, and the role of the Department of Homeland Security in pushing out cybersecurity best practices.
- FISMA's initial focus was on protecting government systems and data, including those managed by contractors.
- The 2014 update emphasized cyber breach notification and the role of DHS in cybersecurity.
- Key expectations include risk management, selecting security controls, and compliance reporting to Congress.
Mike Grim from Optic Cyber Solutions introduces the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA), highlighting its key components, drivers, and its influence on security compliance and regulation within the federal government. FISMA was initially released as the Federal Information Security Management Act and later updated in 2014. The initial release in 2002, as part of the E-Government Act, had key areas for the instantiation of the law.
The initial drivers for FISMA included a strong protection mandate to secure government systems and data, whether government-owned or managed by contractors. It was also a response to the increasing digitization of government operations, requiring robust security protections for IT systems, similar to physical security measures. Economic and national security concerns, along with a focus on cybersecurity, particularly the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of government systems and data, were also significant drivers.
The key drivers of FISMA's initial release in 2002 primarily focused on the need for information security and the systems processing that information, including sensitive government and citizen data like Social Security numbers. There was an increasing dependence on Information Technology, with new needs for storage and evolving paradigms from mainframes to client-server technologies. The rising tide of cybersecurity threats, including hacking, necessitated standardized security practices, as different agencies and government parts had inconsistent security implementations. Compliance and accountability were also crucial, as FISMA sought to address inconsistencies in compliance checks, auditing, and accountability within organizations.
Key expectations for FISMA include risk management, requiring agencies to conduct regular risk assessments to determine the necessary security level for their systems. Agencies must select security controls as defined in FIPS 200, based on the information type processed by the system (low, moderate, or high). These controls are operationalized via the Risk Management Framework (RMF), a seven-step process involving system categorization, security control implementation from NIST 800-53, and compliance reporting through annual assessments and audits submitted to Congress to ensure a baseline security level is maintained.
In 2014, FISMA was updated with the Modernization Act, adding to the 2002 act by refining reporting requirements and enhancing the focus on cyber breach notification. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was given a defined leadership role in pushing out information security best practices for federal systems, which is seen today with CISA's cybersecurity guidance, including zero trust initiatives. The development of Binding Operational Directives, requiring critical systems to be patched, also became prominent. Reporting requirements shifted to focus more on threats, security incidents, and compliance with security requirements, with executive branch civilian agencies required to notify and consult with US-CERT regarding security incidents.
The overall focus of FISMA is to provide more visibility into the security posture across government agencies, enabling the government to ingest and use that information to ensure an uplift or at least notification of critical threats. This holistic approach to cybersecurity from a government perspective aims to ensure a comprehensive defense against cyber threats.
Optic Cyber Solutions offers various resources, including a risk management framework overview that walks through the seven steps of the RMF. The video lists resources such as the PDF version of RMF NIST 800-37, the security controls catalog 800-53, and the RMF overview website provided by NIST. Optic Cyber Solutions helps organizations identify and address their blind spots through assessment, implementation, and advising services. For more information, contact [email protected] or visit opticcyber.com.
Summarize any YouTube video in seconds
Get summaries like this one for any video, in your language, with the free Summ app.
Transcript
Full transcript of “FISMA Overview”. Click a timestamp to open the video at that moment. Need another video? Use the YouTube transcript generator.
0:01 Mike Grim with optic Cyber Solutions today I'm going to provide a brief overview of the federal information security modernization act or fsma um some of its key components some of the drivers for the uh the act and how it's helped shape a lot of the security compliance um and regulation for the federal government theis was originally released as the uh federal information security management act and then later updated to the modernization act in 2014 but as part of the initial releases uh for 20 uh 2002 as part of the e-government ACT I did have a few key areas for um you know the instantiation of the law um they did have a strong protection mandate essentially to ensure that government systems um were protected the data and systems both government owned and government managed um which is really a key um component um obviously the US government systems that
0:47 they own and operate would have to um fall under the fsma Mandate but also any uh uh contractors that managed or um operated uh systems on behalf of the government also scoped in as part of this part of this law um it's also in response to a digital uh mandate at the time in 2002 the government was still you know uh heavily uh paper focused but as they move more into modernization with new it systems was a a recognition that you did you needed to have uh strong security protections um and controls as you had for physical protection for you know locked locked uh file cabinets and things of that nature to also be moved more into the the technical arena with it systems uh there was also a strong economic and National Security Focus as well um obviously the government runs on you know supports
1:33 critical missions um across the US government and then those systems obviously um are a part of that that mission and then there was a strong security or cyber security Focus as well um essentially focusing on the protection of confidentiality Integrity availability for all the systems and data uh that the US the US um government systems process across the different systems um and branches and departments for the US government so there were a few key uh drivers of fsma has released in 2002 primarily focused around uh information security the need for it um and the systems that processed that information um to include you know sensitive data for the government also any uh us data um of its citizens so things like uh Social Security numbers um there's also increasing dependence on Information
2:18 Technology um you know new need or needs for additional storage um new uh models paradigms As you move from mainframes into uh client server Technologies um increasing rise of Cy security threats um as well to include you know hacking and things like that um the need for standardized security practices um at the time in 2002 really uh different agencies or um different parts of the government even within the same um organization may have implemented security practices security controls and different matters it really was inconsistent um so it was really a need for that standardization um then also U the last one here is compliance and accountability um at the time it really depending on the organization as far as far as um compliance checks auditing and things like that um and accountability
3:04 of um ultimately where that really laid or lied within the organization and so uh fsma sought to address these items some of the key expectations for fsma include uh risk management essentially um agencies are required to conduct regular risk assessments um of the organizations to essentially determine the level of security needed uh to protect their the relevant uh systems within the organization um and then next uh to select security controls as defined in fips 200 so essentially the uh required controls for the type of uh information that the system processes low moderate or high as an example and then from there actually operationalize via the uh risk management framework which is really the the framework that has U seven steps where the organization would go through categorize systems
3:51 understand um the types of systems they have uh low moderate high and then Implement those security controls as defined in the um controls catalog in N 853 and then finally compliance and Reporting where here they would do the um annual assessments Audits and then actually um ultimately report those findings to Congress to ensure that the organization is maintained a baseline level of security um over time in 2014 the management Act was updated with the modernization act and all the items listed here are all additive to the 2002 act but uh 2014 really focused on the refinement of reporting requirements and enhance enhanced focus on Cyber preach notification um there was also a defined role or leadership role for the Department of Homeland Security around you know pushing out information security breast practices for federal uh
4:38 Federal systems federal government organizations and we see that today with uh sisa pushing out the um as part of that component of DHS some of these cybercity forward um guidance and things like that zero trust is a big one currently and then also development of the Bing operational directives uh which are typically um items that will require systems to be patched if they're critical that are seen across the government um as a whole um that's really typically when The Binding operational directives will come into play um there's also uh reporting requirements a shift um in focus to more around threats security incidents and then compliance with security requirements and then as I mentioned the Cyber breach notification uh which required the um uh executive brand civilian agencies to notify and assault with us C regarding security incidents
5:23 and overall I think the the overall focus is for more visibility for the government kind of see where um security posture is across agencies and then obviously to be able to use that that information to ingest and ensure there's an uplift or at least notification if there's a you know critical threats or things like that across the organ across the the government as a whole um to ensure that it's a holistic approach on cyber security um from a government perspective in closing I'd like to leave you with a few resources um at optic cyber solution we have various resources uh one most perent pertinent to this conversation is that risk management framework overie that we've done which kind of walks through the the seven steps of the um the RMF um also have a listing here of the U pdf version of RMF uh uh nist
6:09 837 as well the security controls catalog 853 and then the uh RMF overview website that this has as well um so again I'm Mike Green with optic Cyber Solutions thank you for watching optic Cyber Solutions strives to help organizations identify and address their blind spots through our assessment implementation and Advising services for more information about optic Cyber Solutions or how we can help you gain confidence in your cyber security reach out at info@ optic.com or check out our website at optic cyber.com
