NIST SP 800-171 Rev 3

NIST SP 800-171 — CUI Protection / Federal Contractors

NIST SP 800-171 Rev 3 defines security requirements for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) in non-federal systems. It is the foundation for CMMC 2.0 Level 2 — mandatory for all DoD contractors. Any organization deploying AI systems that handle CUI must demonstrate 800-171 compliance.

Buyer fit

  • DoD contractors and subcontractors
  • Organizations handling Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI)
  • CMMC 2.0 Level 2 compliance candidates
  • Federal civilian agencies

Coverage areas

  • Access control and CUI flow management (3.1.x)
  • Audit logging and user accountability (3.3.x)
  • Configuration management and security baselines (3.4.x)
  • Multi-factor authentication (3.5.3)
  • Risk assessment and vulnerability management (3.11.x)
  • System and information integrity (3.14.x)
  • AI system risk in CUI environments

Executive questions

  • Do any of your AI systems process or have access to CUI?
  • Is multi-factor authentication enforced for all system access?
  • Are audit logs retained and reviewed for all CUI-touching systems?
  • Have you conducted a formal 800-171 self-assessment (SPRS score)?
  • Are your AI model training datasets free of unauthorized CUI?
  • What is your timeline for CMMC 2.0 Level 2 certification?

Monitoring signals

  • Open 800-171 control gaps
  • MFA coverage rate
  • Audit log retention compliance
  • Vulnerability remediation SLA adherence
  • CMMC assessment timeline

Executive output expectations

Framework detail pages explain what a premium buyer should expect from delivery, not inflated promises about certification or legal outcomes.

Report outputs

  • 800-171 control gap analysis by family
  • SPRS score estimate and gap-to-target roadmap
  • CUI flow mapping for AI systems
  • CMMC 2.0 readiness assessment
  • MFA and access control findings
  • Federal contractor AI risk executive briefing

Why this page exists

  • Support buyer education before the first sales call
  • Give founders a consistent structure for future framework pages
  • Make it easy to add deeper proof and downloadable assets later
NIST SP 800-171 — CUI Protection / Federal Contractors | Evolve Edge | Evolve Edge AI