eMASS Consultants for NIST 800-53 and RMF DoD Cybersecurity Controls

Arlington provides expert eMASS consulting services for NIST 800-53 and RMF cybersecurity controls for the Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS) web-based software tool. eMASS, as of 2019, is new to federal DoD contractors, creating challenges in terms of understanding new and emerging DoD risk and cybersecurity compliance requirements.

In simpler terms, according to the DoD, “eMASS is a cybersecurity governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) tool that provides an integrated suite of authorization capabilities to improve cyber risk management, including context to understand mission impact by establishing process control mechanisms for obtaining authorization to operate (ATO) decisions.” With eMASS seeking to automate more of the DoD’s cyber risk management and ATO measures, it’s important to work with a proven, trusted firm for helping navigate the changes, and that’s Arlington.

Arlington offers the following eMASS consulting services for NIST 800-53 and RMF cybersecurity controls:

• eMASS Scoping & Readiness Services
• Policies and Procedures & Templates & policy writing services
• World-Class Policy Templates for Instant Download
• Continuous Monitoring
• eMASS Scoping & Readiness Services

One of the biggest challenges we’re seeing with eMASS is just getting a good grasp on the system itself and how the control information is illustrated. The control information is comprehensive, then there’s supplemental guidance, and a number of additional columns with even more information. It can be a little overwhelming, especially when trying to map controls requirements to one’s in-scope business environment.

This is where an eMASS scoping & readiness assessment is crucial. As experts in the NIST 800 world, Arlington can help decipher and distill the complexities of eMASS, clarifying exactly what needs to be in place for scope, and helping determine gaps, steps for remediation, and relevant milestones. We’ve been helping defense contractors for years with FISMA, DFARS, and other federally mandated DoD compliance mandates, and we can help you. Contact us today at info@arlingtonintel.com to learn more.

As with most of today’s federal compliance reporting, we’ve initially found that assistance with eMASS reporting falls under (1). Documentation remediation and (2). Getting a clear understanding of scope confirmation in terms of what IT systems are in scope for eMASS. (3). Building a formalized roadmap for compliance for obtaining an ATO.

Remember that eMASS has essentially become the DoD's recommended tool for information system Certification and Accreditation (C&A). In short, eMASS automates the C&A process, manages workflow among user roles, and generates a variety of reports based on user needs (i.e., FISMA compliance, etc.) As such, the functional capabilities of eMASS have evolved in response to requirements from DoD leadership and operational user feedback.

Policies and Procedures & Templates

Information security policies and procedures have become a mainstay with many of today’s growing federal regulatory compliance reporting mandates, and with eMASS, policies and procedures have become so critically important. In fact, developing documentation is the most common request we receive from our clients, and understandably so. Just do a simple search within your eMASS reporting requirements for words such as “policy, polices, procedures” and they literally everywhere.

To get a better glimpse of the comprehensiveness of documentation for purposes of eMASS reporting, just look at the NIST SP 800-53 publication, as that’s where a large number of the controls are derived from, which ultimately require robust policies and procedures. Within NIST SP 800-53, you’ll find policy requirements for access control, change management, configuration management, incident response, and many, many other areas. We can help as we offer world-class InfoSec templates and toolkits for instant download.

World-Class Policy Templates for Instant Download

 These are great toolkits for helping federal contractors meet the monstrous documentation requirements found within eMASS. Want to save dozens of hours and thousands of dollars on information security policies and procedures – then talk to Arlington today, or instantly download one of our toolkits.

Arlington offers expert documentation that’s highly essential for meeting today’s rigorous compliance mandates for documentation. Our toolkits come complete with many of the templates federal contractors will require for meeting eMASS reporting, and other federal laws and regulations.

Simply put, Arlington’s policy templates can save you hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars on critical InfoSec documentation. eMASS controls and related documentation are heavily derived from NIST SP 800-53, which is currently on revision 4 as of this writing, but revision 5 is fast on its way here. Arlington will have all documentation mapped to revision 5 in 2020 for ensuring complete control coverage for your eMASS reporting requirements.

Continuous Monitoring

Arlington also offers assistance with annual compliance monitoring. More specifically, we can put in place a “continuous monitoring” program for ensuring you stay compliant throughout the year. We also offer virtual compliance officer services at a fraction of the cost of a full-time CISO or compliance officer. Contact us today at info@arlingtonintel.com to learn more.

The Defense Security Services (DSS) has now effectively embraced eMASS as its standard support tool for the Risk Management Framework (RMF) within the National Industrial Security Program (NISP). More specifically, eMASS has been customized to actually support the classified contractor community, including specific security control baselines and overlays for various IT configurations, including Single-user Standalone (SUSA), Multi-user Standalone (MUSA), etc.

Therefore, classified contractors are now required to use NISP eMASS to document their compliance, build their RMF packages and submit to DSS for approval (ATO).

eMASS and the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA)

System owners are required to record compliance relating to FISMA, such as ATO expiration dates, contingency plan test dates, and other relevant material. While eMASS has always provided areas for this type of data, traditionally, each DoD component’s IT Program has been the keeper of such information. This is changing as DoD organizations are beginning to rely on eMASS as the primary source for information relating to FISMAs

ARLINGTON. eMASS Experts for DoD Federal Contractors

Arlingtonis one of North America’s leading providers of eMASS consulting services for NIST 800-53 and RMF cybersecurity controls for the Department of Defense (DoD) Enterprise Mission Assurance Support Service (eMASS) web-based software tool. We offer numerous professional consulting services related to eMASS, from scoping & readiness assessments to policies and procedures writing, and much more. Contact us today at info@arlingtonintel.com to learn more about our eMASS services.