# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 IA-5(17) — Presentation Attack Detection For Biometric Authenticators - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-17-presentation-attack-detection-for-biometric-authenticators - 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-5(17)`·high·Component: **Identification and Authentication** ## What this control requires > Employing presentation attack detection mechanisms, such as liveness detection, for biometric-based authentication to mitigate risks from unauthorized artifacts attempting to deceive biometric sensors. This control supports the Biometric Authentication System capability within the Identification and Authentication family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control IA-5(17) ### In plain English Employing presentation attack detection mechanisms, such as liveness detection, for biometric-based authentication to mitigate risks from unauthorized artifacts attempting to deceive biometric sensors. 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. This control is rated **high**. Auditors expect a named owner, a remediation SLA, and a tooling artefact that evidences continuous operation. ## 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-5(17)) 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. - **Detection.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Review.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Biometric.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Authentication.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, authentication, system, mitigate risks, identity, review, capability, authenticators. ## 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: Presentation Attack Detection For Biometric Authenticators. ## 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 9.2** — Use DNS Filtering Services](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/cis-controls-v8/9-2-use-dns-filtering-services) - [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.8.23** — Web filtering](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-8-23-web-filtering) - [**ISO/IEC 27701:2025 A.3.8** — Identity management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27701-2025/a-3-8-identity-management) - [**BSI C5:2020 IDM-09** — Authentication mechanisms](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/bsi-c5-2020/idm-09-authentication-mechanisms) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**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) - [**Control IA-5(5)** — Change Authenticators Prior To Delivery](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-5-change-authenticators-prior-to-delivery) - [**Control IA-5(12)** — Biometric Authentication Performance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-12-biometric-authentication-performance) - [**Control IA-4** — Identifier Management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-4-identifier-management) - [**Control IA-5** — Authenticator Management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-authenticator-management) - [**Control IA-5(1)** — Password-Based Authentication](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-1-password-based-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-5(17)` Topics: identity accessidentity managementaccess reviewprivileged access ## 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.