NIST Cybersecurity Skills

Unified reference for NIST cybersecurity frameworks, controls, and standards.

Framework Routing

Use this table to determine which reference file to load based on the user's question.

SP 800-53 Rev 5 — Control Families Quick Reference

These are the 20 control families. Each has a dedicated reference file.

CSF 2.0 — Functions Quick Reference

Common Tasks

Find controls for a specific topic

1. Identify the relevant control family from the table above
2. Load the family reference file (e.g., references/800-53/ac.md for Access Control)
3. Search for the specific control by ID or keyword

Compare FedRAMP baselines

1. Load references/cross-references/baselines.md
2. Look up Low, Moderate, or High baseline control selections
3. Cross-reference with specific control family files for details

Map 800-53 controls to CSF

1. Load references/cross-references/800-53-to-csf.md
2. Find the CSF function/category of interest
3. See which 800-53 controls implement that category

Map 800-53 to 800-171

1. Load references/cross-references/800-53-to-800-171.md
2. Find the 800-53 control of interest
3. See the corresponding 800-171 requirement (if any)

Look up related controls

1. Load the family reference file (e.g., references/800-53/ac.md)
2. Each non-withdrawn control has a **Related Controls:** line listing cross-references
3. These are sourced from the authoritative NIST OSCAL catalog

Check baseline applicability

1. Each non-withdrawn control has a **Baselines:** line showing Low, Moderate, and/or High
2. For a full listing: python scripts/lookup.py baseline moderate (or low, high)
3. Filter by family: python scripts/lookup.py baseline moderate AC
4. See also references/cross-references/baselines.md for FedRAMP details

Map CSF 2.0 to 800-53 controls

1. By function: python scripts/lookup.py map csf PR (shows all Protect mappings)
2. By category: python scripts/lookup.py map csf PR.AA (shows specific category)
3. Or load references/cross-references/800-53-to-csf.md directly

Look up assessment procedures

1. Identify the control from 800-53
2. Load the corresponding family file under references/800-53a/
3. Find the assessment objectives and methods

Understand a NIST term

1. Load references/glossary.md
2. Search for the term alphabetically

Cross-Framework Relationships

CSF 2.0 (strategic)
  └── SP 800-37 (RMF process)
       └── SP 800-53 Rev 5 (controls catalog)
            ├── SP 800-53A Rev 5 (assessment procedures)
            ├── SP 800-171 Rev 3 (CUI subset → CMMC)
            ├── SP 800-30 (risk assessment for control selection)
            └── FedRAMP Baselines (Low/Moderate/High selections)

Supporting Publications:
  ├── SP 800-207 (Zero Trust Architecture)
  ├── SP 800-61 (Incident Response)
  ├── SP 800-63 (Digital Identity)
  ├── SP 800-161 (Supply Chain Risk)
  └── FIPS 140-3, 199, 200 (foundational standards)

Usage Notes

• Control IDs follow the pattern: {FAMILY}-{NUMBER} (e.g., AC-2, SI-4)
• Enhancements append a parenthetical: AC-2(1), SI-4(5)
• Baselines: Low ⊂ Moderate ⊂ High (each higher baseline includes all controls from lower ones). Each control in 800-53 files has a **Baselines:** tag showing which baselines include it.
• Related Controls: Every non-withdrawn control has a **Related Controls:** line sourced from the NIST OSCAL catalog.
• 800-171 requirements map to a subset of 800-53 Moderate baseline controls
• CSF categories use dot notation: GV.OC-01, PR.AC-01
• OSCAL (Open Security Controls Assessment Language) provides machine-readable versions of these frameworks

Data Sources

Reference content is derived from:

• Dataset: ethanolivertroy/nist-cybersecurity-training (530,912 structured examples from 596 NIST publications)
• Raw PDFs: ethanolivertroy/nist-publications-raw (596 PDFs, 2 GB)
• NIST OSCAL: Official machine-readable catalogs for 800-53, 800-171, and FedRAMP baselines