# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 IA-8(4) — Use Of Defined Profiles - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-8-4-use-of-defined-profiles - 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-8(4)`·medium·Component: **Identification and Authentication** ## What this control requires > Non-organizational users must conform to identity management profiles based on open standards, assessed against applicable laws, policies, and regulations to ensure reliable, interoperable identity management. This control supports the Identity Managemnt Solution capability within the Identification and Authentication family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control IA-8(4) ### In plain English Non-organizational users must conform to identity management profiles based on open standards, assessed against applicable laws, policies, and regulations to ensure reliable, interoperable identity management. 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-8(4)) and look for objective evidence on the latest two assessment cycles. ## How to implement #### 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. - **Authentication.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Identity.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Control.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Identification.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, authentication, identity, capability, identification, regulations, policy. ## Evidence to collect - **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document. - **Infra Scan.** Continuous infrastructure-posture telemetry — AWS Config, Azure Policy compliance, GCP Organisation Policy, Wiz / Prisma findings. Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Use Of Defined Profiles. ## Common pitfalls - 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) - [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) C1.1** — Confidential Information Identification and Maintenance](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/c1-1-confidential-information-identification-and-maintenance) - [**BSI C5:2020 SP-01** — Documentation, communication and provision of policies and instructions](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/bsi-c5-2020/sp-01-documentation-communication-and-provision-of-policies-and-instructions) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control IA-1** — Policy And Procedures](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-1-policy-and-procedures) - [**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-5(15)** — Gsa-Approved Products And Services](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-5-15-gsa-approved-products-and-services) - [**Control IA-7** — Cryptographic Module Authentication](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-7-cryptographic-module-authentication) - [**Control IA-4(9)** — Attribute Maintenance And Protection](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-4-9-attribute-maintenance-and-protection) - [**Control IA-6** — Authentication Feedback](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ia-6-authentication-feedback) ## 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-8(4)` Topics: governance riskidentity 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.