Risk Management For DoD IT

DoDI 8510.01 Risk Management Framework (RMF) for DoD Information Technology (IT), March 14, has been released.

The Risk Management Framework For DoD IT, establishes DoDD 8500, Cybersecurity policy, and assigning responsibilities for executing and maintaining the RMF.  The Risk Management Framework For DoD IT replaces the DoD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process (DIACAP) and manages the life-cycle cybersecurity risk to DoD IT.

The RMF renames the DIACAP Technical Advisory Group to the RMF TAG.

A couple of big changes are that it moves away from the term “Information Assurance” as much as possible.  It also address some of the biggest issues of DIACAP right away:

“[RMF] Provides procedural guidance for the reciprocal acceptance of authorization decisions and artifacts within DoD, and between DoD and other federal agencies, for the authorization and connection of information systems (ISs).”

One of the biggest issues with DIACAP is that different organization would have a different DIACAP process and so if, for example, Unit Sample Army wanted to connect to Flight A Airforce system, someone (or both) would have to redo their process.

How much does Risk Management Framework For DoD IT take from NIST?

See for yourself:

RMF GOVERNANCE. The DoD RMF governance structure implements the three-tiered

approach to cybersecurity risk management described in NIST SP 800-39 (Reference (i)),

synchronizes and integrates RMF activities across all phases of the IT life cycle, and spans

logical and organizational entities