# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 IA-6 — Authentication Feedback - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-6-authentication-feedback - 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-6`·medium·Component: **Identification and Authentication** ## What this control requires > Obscuring feedback of authentication information during the authentication process to protect it from exploitation by unauthorized individuals. This includes displaying asterisks for passwords or limiting feedback visibility to prevent shoulder surfing, particularly on systems like desktops with large monitors, while balancing usability on small-display devices. This control supports the Authentication Interface capability within the Identification and Authentication family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control IA-6 ### In plain English Obscuring feedback of authentication information during the authentication process to protect it from exploitation by unauthorized individuals. In practice, this means you can prove you policy 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-6) 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. #### Policy Management **Docs.** Keep each policy in version-controlled Markdown alongside the code that implements it; ship a signed PDF snapshot at each annual review and link the SHA into the SoA. ### Operational checklist - **Policy.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Information.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Process.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Security.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Protection.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, information, authentication information, feedback, protection, identity, capability, systems. ## Evidence to collect - **User Device Scan.** MDM compliance state per user device (Intune / Jamf / Workspace ONE). - **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document. Endpoint compliance telemetry (Intune, Jamf) proves managed coverage. Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Authentication Feedback. ## Common pitfalls - Pilot MDM rollouts that quietly exclude executives or engineers; carving out the highest-risk users is the most common audit failure. - Policies that no engineer has read; the version in Confluence drifts from the version that's actually being enforced. ## 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 3.5.11** — Authentication Feedback](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-5-11-authentication-feedback) - [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.5.17** — Authentication information](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-17-authentication-information) - [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.312(d)** — Person or Entity Authentication](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-312-d-person-or-entity-authentication) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control IA-2(13)** — Out-Of-Band Authentication](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-2-13-out-of-band-authentication) - [**Control IA-8(4)** — Use Of Defined Profiles](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-8-4-use-of-defined-profiles) - [**Control IA-5(11)** — Hardware Token-Based Authentication](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-11-hardware-token-based-authentication) - [**Control IA-5(6)** — Protection Of Authenticators](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-6-protection-of-authenticators) - [**Control IA-12(6)** — Accept Externally-Proofed Identities](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-12-6-accept-externally-proofed-identities) - [**Control IA-3** — Device Identification And Authentication](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-3-device-identification-and-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-6` Topics: governance riskendpoint securityendpoint protectionidentity managementpolicy 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.