# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 IA-2(4) — Local Access To Non-Privileged Accounts

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-2-4-local-access-to-non-privileged-accounts
- 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) › IA — Identification and Authentication
- Last updated: 2026-06-05
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

**NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `IA-2(4)`·medium·Component: **Identification and Authentication**

## What this control requires

> Implement secure identification/authentication (e.g., strong passwords, SFA) for local access to non-privileged accounts to prevent unauthorized access. This control supports the Authentication Solution capability within the Identification and Authentication family.
> 
> — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control IA-2(4)

### In plain English

Implement secure identification/authentication (e.g., strong passwords, SFA) for local access to non-privileged accounts to prevent unauthorized access. In practice, this means you can prove you access management-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 **Identification and Authentication**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control IA-2(4)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles.

## How to implement

1.  Write a short policy stating intent, scope and named owner.
2.  Encode it as a platform guardrail — SCP, Azure Policy initiative, Organisation Policy, or repository policy.
3.  Wire a monitoring signal that catches drift (CSPM rule, SIEM rule, scheduled query, Workspace alert) and ticket it.
4.  Review on a documented cadence and capture the review in the risk register or compliance tracker.

### Operational checklist

-   **Access.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Review.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Authentication.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Unauthorized.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Identity.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence.
-   **Scope:** management, accounts, authentication, e, identity, review, capability, identification authentication.

## Evidence to collect

-   **Identity Scan.** IAM / IdP exports — Entra ID, Okta, IAM Identity Center, Workspace directory — showing accounts, roles, MFA state and last sign-in.

Identity analytics (Okta, SailPoint, Access Analyzer) demonstrates least-privilege. Focus: Local Access To Non-Privileged Accounts.

## 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 3.5.5** — Identifier Management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-5-5-identifier-management)
-   [**CIS Controls v8 14.9** — Conduct Role-Specific Security Awareness and Skills Training](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/cis-controls-v8/14-9-conduct-role-specific-security-awareness-and-skills-training)
-   [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) CC6.2** — Access Provisioning](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/cc6-2-access-provisioning)
-   [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.8.2** — Privileged access rights](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-8-2-privileged-access-rights)
-   [**ISO/IEC 27701:2025 A.3.8** — Identity management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-8-identity-management)

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

-   [**Control IA-2(2)** — Multi-Factor Authentication To Non-Privileged Accounts](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-2-2-multi-factor-authentication-to-non-privileged-accounts)
-   [**Control IA-2(3)** — Local Access To Privileged Accounts](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-2-3-local-access-to-privileged-accounts)
-   [**Control IA-2(1)** — Multi-Factor Authentication To Privileged Accounts](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-2-1-multi-factor-authentication-to-privileged-accounts)
-   [**Control IA-4(6)** — Cross-Organization Management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-4-6-cross-organization-management)
-   [**Control IA-4** — Identifier Management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-4-identifier-management)
-   [**Control IA-2(5)** — Individual Authentication With Group Authentication](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-2-5-individual-authentication-with-group-authentication)

## 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 IA-2(4)`

Topics: identity accessprivileged accessidentity managementaccess review

## 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.
