# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 AC-11(1) — Pattern-Hiding Displays

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-11-1-pattern-hiding-displays
- Section: [Compliance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance) › [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 Controls](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5) › AC — Access Control
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `AC-11(1)`·medium·Component: **Access Control**

## What this control requires

> Conceal information on a device's display during a lock with a publicly viewable image (e.g., static/dynamic patterns, photos, solid colors, clock) to prevent unauthorized viewing. This control supports the Operating System capability within the Access Control family.
> 
> — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control AC-11(1)

### In plain English

Conceal information on a device's display during a lock with a publicly viewable image (e.g., static/dynamic patterns, photos, solid colors, clock) to prevent unauthorized viewing. In practice, this means you can prove you dynamic access control-level controls on a defined cadence.

## Why it matters

SP 800-53 is the catalogue every U.S. federal authorisation (FedRAMP, FISMA, CMMC) and most regulated industries point at. A missing control surfaces as a Plan of Action & Milestones (POA&M) item that an Authorizing Official must approve before the Authority To Operate is granted or renewed.

## What an auditor looks for

A 3PAO (FedRAMP) or Independent Assessor (NIST RMF) tests against NIST SP 800-53A assessment procedures. For each control they expect a documented implementation that addresses every assessment objective (Examine, Interview, Test) and an implementation summary in the System Security Plan.

Within **Access Control**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control AC-11(1)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

#### Endpoint Protection

**MDM.** Make MDM enrollment a hard gate for device access (Intune compliance + Conditional Access, or Jamf + Okta device trust). Unmanaged devices simply don't get a session token.

**EDR.** Deploy CrowdStrike / SentinelOne / Defender for Endpoint to every server and laptop; alert on any host that stops sending telemetry for >24h.

#### Code Review Testing

**Pipeline.** Require at least one human reviewer plus passing CI (lint, type, unit, security scan) before merge — protected branches enforce this.

### Operational checklist

-   **Dynamic.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Access.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Information.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Security.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Review.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** access control, information, system, e, lock, displays, protection, review.

## Evidence to collect

-   **User Device Scan.** MDM compliance state per user device (Intune / Jamf / Workspace ONE).

Endpoint compliance telemetry (Intune, Jamf) proves managed coverage. Focus: Pattern-Hiding Displays.

## Common pitfalls

-   Pilot MDM rollouts that quietly exclude executives or engineers; carving out the highest-risk users is the most common audit failure.

## How it maps to other frameworks

Computed from shared tags, control component and key-operation subjects — handy when you are reconciling controls across an audit.

-   [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.1.3** — Information Flow Enforcement](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-1-3-information-flow-enforcement)

## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5

-   [**Control AC-7(2)** — Purge Or Wipe Mobile Device](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-7-2-purge-or-wipe-mobile-device)
-   [**Control AC-19** — Access Control For Mobile Devices](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-19-access-control-for-mobile-devices)
-   [**Control AC-19(4)** — Restrictions For Classified Information](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-19-4-restrictions-for-classified-information)
-   [**Control AC-16(1)** — Dynamic Attribute Association](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-16-1-dynamic-attribute-association)
-   [**Control AC-17(1)** — Monitoring And Control](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-17-1-monitoring-and-control)
-   [**Control SA-17(6)** — Structure For Testing](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-17-6-structure-for-testing)

## References

-   [NIST Computer Security Resource Center — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5](https://csrc.nist.gov/Projects/risk-management/sp800-53-controls)
-   Catalogue identifier: `Control AC-11(1)`

Topics: endpoint securityendpoint protectioncode review testing

## Related compliance guidance

- [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: a practical implementation guide for cloud teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5): Start with the full NIST SP 800-53 implementation guide — scope, roadmap, evidence and how the assessment runs.
- [NIST SP 800-171 and CMMC: a practical guide to protecting CUI in the cloud](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3): If your obligation is protecting CUI in your own systems for a federal or defence contract, this derived subset — not the full catalogue — is the requirement.
- [SOC 2 compliance: a practical implementation guide for cloud-native SaaS teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria): Most commercial SaaS already hold a SOC 2 Type 2, and FedRAMP 20x Class A is designed for providers that have one.