The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a U.S. government agency that develops and promotes standards, guidelines, and best practices to enhance information security and privacy. Recognized globally, NIST frameworks set the benchmark for building secure systems and managing cybersecurity risks. At Protegrity, we align our platform with these trusted standards to help organizations safeguard sensitive data, ensure compliance with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS, and minimize overall risk exposure.
This blog explores how Protegrity’s alignment with NIST standards informs our design principles and supports security and data architects in creating secure, scalable systems.
Understanding NIST Standards
NIST standards are essential for organizations aiming to build secure systems and manage cybersecurity risks effectively. They provide guidelines that ensure security practices align with global regulations and industry best practices. Several key publications shape Protegrity’s approach:
- NIST SP 800-53: Establishes security and privacy controls for information systems, including access control, auditing, and separation of duties.
- NIST SP 800-57: Details best practices for creating, distributing, rotating, and disposing of cryptographic keys.
- NIST IR 8053: Focuses on de-identification principles for protecting personal data.
- NIST SP 800-22: Provides statistical methods for random number generation in cryptographic applications.
By adhering to these standards, Protegrity delivers a platform rooted in secure design principles, ensuring consistent and effective data protection.
Protegrity’s Design Principles Aligned with NIST
Protegrity integrates NIST’s guidelines into every aspect of its platform. Here are the key principles driving our design, supported by real-world applications:
Strong Key Management (NIST SP 800-57)
Effective key management is foundational to data security. Protegrity’s Enterprise Security Administrator (ESA) is a central tool for creating, enforcing, and auditing data protection policies, ensuring consistent security across environments. It adheres to NIST guidelines to simplify and secure key management:
- Creating Strong Cryptographic Keys: AES 256-bit encryption provides robust protection. Financial institutions use ESA to manage keys for tokenization, replacing sensitive data with unique, non-sensitive tokens to preserve usability while safeguarding the original information.
- Key Rotation: Regularly rotating keys minimizes vulnerabilities. Healthcare providers leverage Protegrity to rotate keys, ensuring compliance with HIPAA and protecting sensitive patient data.
- Key Custodianship: Removing human involvement in key custodianship reduces insider risks. Retail organizations use Protegrity to secure transaction data while maintaining accessibility for authorized applications.
Role-Based Access Control (RBAC) and Least Privilege (NIST SP 800-53)
Access control is critical for protecting sensitive information. Protegrity enforces RBAC to limit access to sensitive data by assigning roles and permissions, ensuring compliance with the principle of least privilege. This approach minimizes the risk of unauthorized access while allowing users to perform their specific tasks.
- Granular Access Management: Policies allow tailored access at the field level. For instance, in retail, customer service agents access transaction histories, while fraud teams analyze payment details.
- Auditing and Monitoring: Detailed logs provide a tamper-proof trail for compliance and anomaly detection. Financial institutions rely on this feature to track data access and mitigate security risks.
Data De-Identification (NIST IR 8053)
Protegrity employs tokenization and masking techniques that align with NIST de-identification principles:
- Privacy Assurance: Breaks the link between data and identifiers, enabling healthcare organizations to anonymize patient records for research purposes.
- Analytics Enablement: Preserves data usability for analytics without exposing identities. Retailers leverage this capability to analyze customer purchasing behaviors securely.
- Reversibility: Allows authorized users to re-identify data as needed. Insurance companies use this to process claims while maintaining customer privacy.
FIPS Compliance (FIPS 140-2)
FIPS (Federal Information Processing Standards) are a set of security requirements developed by NIST to standardize cryptographic modules for protecting sensitive data. FIPS 140-2 is widely used to validate encryption methods and ensure secure implementation across government and enterprise systems. Protegrity ensures compliance with FIPS 140-2 by utilizing OpenSSL in FIPS mode.
- Employs only FIPS-approved algorithms for encryption. Retail organizations depend on this capability to secure payment processing.
- Implements cryptographic modules securely to safeguard sensitive information in healthcare environments.
Looking Ahead
As data privacy regulations become more complex and cyber threats continue to evolve, organizations need adaptive, robust solutions. Protegrity’s alignment with NIST standards ensures that our platform provides a secure foundation for managing sensitive data effectively.
Security architects can trust Protegrity to deliver scalable, compliant, and comprehensive data protection. By embedding security directly at the data level, Protegrity empowers organizations to innovate confidently while safeguarding their most critical assets.