The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is moving toward OSCAL integration.
Learn what OSCAL is, the benefits and drawbacks of it for your compliance documentation, and how to switch to an OSCAL digital authorization package, so you can decide if it's right for your organization.
Nist.gov says, OSCAL is a framework for documenting and assessing the security controls of an information system. Its stated goals are to decrease the paperwork burden by moving from a text-based and manual approach (using word processors or spreadsheets) to a set of standardized, machine-readable formats.
As of November, 2023, OSCAL has a handful of different models, expressed in XML, JSON, and YAML:
With features like machine-readable formats and API integrations, OSCAL aims to make your life easier, whether it's about obtaining FedRAMP authorization or continuous compliance monitoring.
Read more about NIST’s goals for OSCAL.
While OSCAL offers a forward-thinking approach to security control assessment, it's not without its challenges.
Think of OSCAL not as a ready-to-use software but as a new language designed for security compliance.
It's made for tech experts to build tools that everyone can use. Without these tools, getting to grips with OSCAL's detailed and technical format requires a lot of specialized knowledge, which can be quite overwhelming.
Creating detailed documentation across diverse components, especially in intricate cloud environments, is complex and time-consuming with OSCAL.
OSCAL's architecture, while reducing some repetitive tasks in compliance reporting, still has its challenges. For every component in a system, OSCAL requires that all associated controls be updated individually. This creates a substantial manual workload, especially when a single change affects multiple references within the documentation.
Watch: Kenny explains what is required to take advantage of the benefits OSCAL.
Through the 1-hour Paramify intake process you will get your tailored Risk Solutions, which are leveraged to address several OSCAL limitations.
Learn more: how Risk Solutions simplify compliance.
The Risk Solutions Platform is the tool you need to effectively implement OSCAL for your organization. It bypasses the complex learning curve and provides an intuitive way to produce accurate OSCAL deliverables, like SSPs.
By providing a framework that scales with your intricate cloud environments, Risk Solutions facilitates seamless adaptation and minimize the documentation effort required for each component.
Paramify's Risk Solutions significantly streamlines the update process within OSCAL's framework.
With Paramify, you make a single update to a Risk Solution, and it automatically synchronizes that change across all related components, controls, and compliance documents.
This capability spans across different security frameworks, ensuring consistent and accurate updates without the need to manually edit each control for every component. By integrating with Paramify, you can effectively manage and reduce redundancy, saving valuable time and resources in maintaining compliance documentation.
Risk Solutions goes beyond OSCAL’s component model by providing a holistic view of how various elements work together to implement specific controls. It enables more targeted and streamlined compliance documentation.
Import your existing SSP with Paramify to automatically generate your OSCAL SSP.
While OSCAL offers numerous advantages, it also brings in an additional layer of complexity. Paramify aims to simplify this process, offering an efficient, uniform, and consistent approach to managing compliance documentation.
Are you ready to see the first draft of your OSCAL SSP? Paramify is here to guide you every step of the way. Schedule a demo with us today or request a video demo below:
Read More:
• SSP templates are outdated and waste your time
• Learn about the FedRAMP digital authorization pilot
