# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 PM-28 — Risk Framing - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pm-28-risk-framing - 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) › PM — Program Management - Last updated: 2026-06-05 - Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com) **NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `PM-28`·high·Component: **Program Management** ## What this control requires > Identify and document assumptions, constraints, priorities, trade-offs, and organizational risk tolerance affecting risk assessments, responses, and monitoring. Distribute the results of risk framing activities to relevant personnel and review/update them regularly to reflect changes in organizational conditions. This control supports the Governance capability within the Program Management family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control PM-28 ### In plain English Identify and document assumptions, constraints, priorities, trade-offs, and organizational risk tolerance affecting risk assessments, responses, and monitoring. 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. 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 **Program Management**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control PM-28) 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. - **Review.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Changes.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Control.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Identify.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** management, conditions, personnel, assessments, review, capability, policy. ## Evidence to collect - **Policy Document.** A signed and version-controlled policy / standard / procedure document. Signed policy or standard documents the safeguard. Focus: Risk Framing. ## 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. - [**SOC 2 (2017 TSC) CC4.1** — Control Monitoring](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/soc-2-trust-services-criteria/cc4-1-control-monitoring) - [**HIPAA (45 CFR Part 164) 164.308(a)(5)(i)** — Security Awareness and Training](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/hipaa/164-308-a-5-i-security-awareness-and-training) - [**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) - [**CIS Controls v8 7.1** — Establish and Maintain a Vulnerability Management Process](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/cis-controls-v8/7-1-establish-and-maintain-a-vulnerability-management-process) - [**ISO/IEC 27001:2022 A.5.5** — Contact with authorities](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/iso-27001-2022/a-5-5-contact-with-authorities) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control PM-27** — Privacy Reporting](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pm-27-privacy-reporting) - [**Control SC-1** — Policy And Procedures](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sc-1-policy-and-procedures) - [**Control CA-2(1)** — Independent Assessors](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ca-2-1-independent-assessors) - [**Control PM-5** — System Inventory](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pm-5-system-inventory) - [**Control CM-11** — User-Installed Software](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-11-user-installed-software) - [**Control PL-3** — System Security Plan Update](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/pl-3-system-security-plan-update) ## 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 PM-28` Topics: governance riskcontinuous monitoringpatch 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.