# NIST800 171 3.5.5 — Identifier Management

- Source: https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/a_gen_nist800171_355_0cce2c06af-nist800-171-355-identifier-management
- Section: [Solutions](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions) › [NIST SP 800-171 Readiness](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/c_gen_nist800171) › [Identification and Authentication](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/folders/f_gen_cgennist800171_identificationandauthentication)
- Last updated: 2026-05-30
- Publisher: iCompaas, Inc. (https://www.icompaas.com)

NIST800 171 · Control 3.5.5 · Priority: high · Component: Identification and Authentication

### What this control covers

This control requires receiving authorization before assigning identifiers to individuals, groups, roles, services, or devices. It mandates preventing the reuse of identifiers for a defined period and managing individual identifiers by uniquely identifying each individual based on an organization-defined characteristic. This helps ensure accurate identification and communication within the organization. This control supports the Identifier Assignment System capability within the Identification and Authentication (3.5) family.

### Why it matters

Identity is the new perimeter — most breaches start with a stolen credential or over-privileged account, so this control is one of the single highest-leverage items you can implement.

### How to implement

#### AWS

Use **IAM Identity Center** (formerly AWS SSO) as the single source of truth for human access; back it with your corporate IdP via SAML/SCIM. Avoid IAM users for people — they don't get MFA-by-default, rotation, or session lifetimes. For workloads, use **IAM Roles** (assumed by EC2/Lambda/EKS service accounts via IRSA) and never long-lived access keys. Run [IAM Access Analyzer](https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/access-analyzer.html) weekly to surface unused access and external-account exposure.

#### Azure

Centralize identity on **Microsoft Entra ID** (formerly Azure AD). Require **Conditional Access** policies: MFA for all admin roles, block legacy auth, location/device gating. Use **Privileged Identity Management (PIM)** to make admin roles just-in-time and time-bound. For Azure resources, prefer **Managed Identities** over service principals with secrets.

#### GCP

Use **Cloud Identity** (or Workspace) as the IdP and **IAM** for resource access. Grant roles at the lowest scope (project > folder > org) using **Workload Identity Federation** for CI/CD and **service accounts** for workloads — never download service-account keys when avoidable. Enable **Policy Intelligence** recommenders to right-size privileges and detect dormant identities.

#### Google Workspace

Enforce **2-Step Verification** (preferably hardware keys for admins) for the entire org, set session length to ≤ 12 hours, and disable less-secure-app access. Use **Context-Aware Access** levels to restrict admin sign-in by IP/device posture. Provision and de-provision users via **SCIM** from your HRIS so leavers lose access on day one.

#### GitHub

Require **SSO + SCIM** from your IdP on the organisation; enforce **2FA** org-wide and use **fine-grained PATs** (or, better, GitHub Apps) instead of classic tokens. Restrict **outside collaborators**, require signed commits on protected branches, and use **OIDC** from Actions to short-lived AWS/GCP/Azure credentials rather than stored secrets.

#### Zoho Mail

Make **two-factor authentication** mandatory for all users (TOTP, OneAuth, or YubiKey) in _Admin Console → Security_. Configure **SAML SSO** against your IdP and disable password-based logins for admins. Use **role-based privileges** (Admin / Spam Moderator / Mail Account Admin) and review the _Login history_ report monthly for anomalies.

### Evidence to collect

-   `identity_scan` — See the iCompaas Evidence library for the canonical source for this evidence type.

Identity analytics (Okta, SailPoint, Access Analyzer) demonstrates least-privilege. Focus: Identifier Management.

### Quick checklist

-   Access — Management / Authentication
-   System — Management / Authentication
-   Identifier — Management / Authentication
-   Authentication — Management / Authentication

### Related articles on this site

-   [Ensure Access Review is Set Up for External Users in Azure AD Privileged Identity Management (PIM](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/62000229788-ensure-access-review-is-set-up-for-external-users-in-azure-ad-privileged-identity-management-pim)
-   [NIST 800-171 3.5.5 Prevent reuse of identifiers for a defined period.](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/62000229293-nist-800-171-3-5-5-prevent-reuse-of-identifiers-for-a-defined-period-)
-   [CMMC 2.0 IA.3.085 Prevent reuse of identifiers for a defined period.](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/62000229478-cmmc-2-0-ia-3-085-prevent-reuse-of-identifiers-for-a-defined-period-)
-   [NIST 800-171 3.5.6 Disable identifiers after a defined period of inactivity.](https://support.icompaas.com/support/solutions/articles/62000229294-nist-800-171-3-5-6-disable-identifiers-after-a-defined-period-of-inactivity-)

## Related compliance guidance

- [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): The CUI requirements CMMC Level 2 assesses, the SPRS score, POA&M rules and the phased DFARS rollout.
- [NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5: a practical implementation guide for cloud teams](https://support.icompaas.com/compliance/nist-sp-800-53-rev-5): The federal catalogue 800-171 is derived from — useful when a contract also cites a FedRAMP baseline.