# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 RA-9 — Criticality Analysis - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ra-9-criticality-analysis - 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) › RA — Risk Assessment - Last updated: 2026-06-05 - Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com) **NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `RA-9`·high·Component: **Risk Assessment** ## What this control requires > Identify mission-critical components and functions through system-level analysis at key lifecycle stages, enabling prioritization of protections based on impact, dependencies, and operational environment. This control supports the Criticality Mapping Engine capability within the Risk Assessment family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control RA-9 ### In plain English Identify mission-critical components and functions through system-level analysis at key lifecycle stages, enabling prioritization of protections based on impact, dependencies, and operational environment. 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 **Risk Assessment**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control RA-9) 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. - **Review.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **System.** 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. - **Scope:** management, mission, system, functions, analysis, identity, assessment, review. ## 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: Criticality Analysis. ## 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. - [**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) - [**NIST SP 800-171 Rev. 3 3.15.2** — System Security Plan](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-15-2-system-security-plan) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control RA-5(5)** — Privileged Access](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ra-5-5-privileged-access) - [**Control CA-6** — Authorization](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ca-6-authorization) - [**Control AC-6(6)** — Privileged Access By Non-Organizational Users](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-6-6-privileged-access-by-non-organizational-users) - [**Control AU-6(8)** — Full Text Analysis Of Privileged Commands](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/au-6-8-full-text-analysis-of-privileged-commands) - [**Control CM-5(4)** — Dual Authorization](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/cm-5-4-dual-authorization) - [**Control SA-15(5)** — Attack Surface Reduction](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sa-15-5-attack-surface-reduction) ## 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 RA-9` Topics: governance riskidentity 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.