# NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 SC-8 — Transmission Confidentiality And Integrity - Source: https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sc-8-transmission-confidentiality-and-integrity - 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) › SC — System and Communications Protection - Last updated: 2026-06-05 - Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com) **NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5**·Control `SC-8`·critical·Component: **System and Communications Protection** ## What this control requires > Protect the confidentiality and/or integrity of transmitted information across internal and external networks, as well as through system components like servers, mobile devices, and printers. Unprotected communication paths are vulnerable to interception and modification. Protection can be achieved through physical means (e.g., protected distribution systems) or logical means (e.g., encryption). This control supports the Transmission Protection Mechanism capability within the System and Communications Protection family. > > — NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5, Control SC-8 ### In plain English Protect the confidentiality and/or integrity of transmitted information across internal and external networks, as well as through system components like servers, mobile devices, and printers. In practice, this means you can prove you information information-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 **critical** in the source catalogue. Treat gaps here as production incidents in the risk register, not housekeeping. ## 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 **System and Communications Protection**, the assessor will trace your implementation back to the catalogue reference (Control SC-8) 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. #### Physical Security **Inheritance.** For cloud-only operations, inherit physical controls from the provider's SOC 2 / ISO 27001 report and document the inheritance in the SoA. ### Operational checklist - **Information.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Security.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Data.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Physical.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Internal.** Document the trigger, the owner and the cadence. - **Scope:** information, system, e, encryption, mobile devices, protection, components, capability. ## Evidence to collect - **User Device Scan.** MDM compliance state per user device (Intune / Jamf / Workspace ONE). Endpoint compliance telemetry (Intune, Jamf) proves managed coverage. Focus: Transmission Confidentiality And Integrity. ## Common pitfalls - Pilot MDM rollouts that quietly exclude executives or engineers; carving out the highest-risk users is the most common audit failure. ## 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 3.1.18** — Access Control for Mobile Devices](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-171-rev-3/3-1-18-access-control-for-mobile-devices) ## Related controls in NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 - [**Control SC-7(12)** — Host-Based Protection](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sc-7-12-host-based-protection) - [**Control SC-37** — Out-Of-Band Channels](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sc-37-out-of-band-channels) - [**Control AC-19(5)** — Full Device Or Container-Based Encryption](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/ac-19-5-full-device-or-container-based-encryption) - [**Control SC-15(1)** — Physical Or Logical Disconnect](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sc-15-1-physical-or-logical-disconnect) - [**Control SC-42** — Sensor Capability And Data](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sc-42-sensor-capability-and-data) - [**Control SC-15(3)** — Disabling And Removal In Secure Work Areas](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5/sc-15-3-disabling-and-removal-in-secure-work-areas) ## 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 SC-8` Topics: endpoint securitydata protectionendpoint protectionencryption at restphysical security ## 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.