# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 IA-5(4) — Automated Support For Password Strength Determination - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-4-automated-support-for-password-strength-determination - 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(4)`·medium·Component: **Identification and Authentication** ## What this control requires > Control mandates employing automated tools to evaluate and ensure password strength, verifying that passwords meet organization-defined complexity and composition rules to enhance security and reduce the risk of weak passwords. This control supports the Password Management System capability within the Identification and Authentication family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control IA-5(4) ### In plain English Control mandates employing automated tools to evaluate and ensure password strength, verifying that passwords meet organization-defined complexity and composition rules to enhance security and reduce the risk of weak passwords. 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-5(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. - **Security.** 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. - **System.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, authentication, organization, system, identity, review, capability, password strength determination. ## 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: Automated Support For Password Strength Determination. ## 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 6.1** — Establish an Access Granting Process](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/cis-controls-v8/6-1-establish-an-access-granting-process) - [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.5.16** — Identity management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-16-identity-management) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control IA-5(1)** — Password-Based Authentication](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-1-password-based-authentication) - [**Control IA-4(1)** — Prohibit Account Identifiers As Public Identifiers](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-4-1-prohibit-account-identifiers-as-public-identifiers) - [**Control IA-5(13)** — Expiration Of Cached Authenticators](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-13-expiration-of-cached-authenticators) - [**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(7)** — In-Person Registration](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-4-7-in-person-registration) - [**Control IA-4** — Identifier Management](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-4-identifier-management) ## 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(4)` Topics: governance riskidentity accessidentity managementaccess reviewprivileged accesspassword management ## 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.