AT-2: Literacy Training and Awareness

RMF Control AT-2: Literacy Training and Awareness requires organizations to provide training and awareness to personnel on information security and the protection of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), including:

• Awareness of information security risks and their impact on organizational operations and assets.
• Procedures to protect CUI from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction.
• Employee roles and responsibilities in protecting CUI.

Supplemental Guidance

The Risk Management Framework (RMF) is a cybersecurity framework that provides a process for managing cybersecurity risk to systems and organizations. RMF Control AT-2: Literacy Training and Awareness is one of the controls in the AT family, which addresses awareness and training.

Awareness and training are essential for protecting CUI. By providing employees with awareness and training on information security risks and procedures, organizations can help employees to protect CUI from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction.

Benefits of Implementing RMF Control AT-2

There are a number of benefits to implementing RMF Control AT-2, including:

• Reduced cybersecurity risk: Awareness and training can help to reduce cybersecurity risk by helping employees to identify and avoid cybersecurity threats.
• Improved CUI protection: Awareness and training can help to improve the protection of CUI by helping employees to understand the risks to CUI and how to protect it.
• Increased compliance: Many regulations, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), require organizations to provide awareness and training on information security topics to their employees.

How to Implement RMF Control AT-2

To implement RMF Control AT-2, organizations should:

1. Develop a literacy training and awareness program. The program should address the following topics:
   • The importance of information security and protecting CUI.
   • The information security risks that employees need to be aware of.
   • The procedures to protect CUI from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction.
   • Employee roles and responsibilities in protecting CUI.
2. Deliver the literacy training and awareness program to all personnel who have access to CUI. The training can be delivered through a variety of methods, such as online training, in-person training, or job aids.
3. Evaluate the effectiveness of the literacy training and awareness program. This can be done through surveys, quizzes, or other assessments.

Examples of Literacy Training and Awareness Topics

Some examples of literacy training and awareness topics that organizations should cover include:

• Information security risks: Employees should be trained on the various information security risks that their organization faces, such as malware, phishing, and social engineering.
• CUI protection procedures: Employees should be trained on the procedures to protect CUI from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, disruption, modification, or destruction. This includes procedures for handling CUI, storing CUI, and transmitting CUI.
• Employee roles and responsibilities: Employees should be trained on their roles and responsibilities in protecting CUI. This includes understanding their access privileges to CUI and knowing how to report suspected information security incidents.

Conclusion

RMF Control AT-2: Literacy Training and Awareness is an important control that can help organizations to reduce cybersecurity risk and improve their CUI protection posture. By implementing RMF Control AT-2, organizations can ensure that their employees are aware of the information security risks that they face and that they know how to protect CUI from those threats.

Additional Tips for Implementing RMF Control AT-2

• Use a variety of training methods: There is no one-size-fits-all approach to literacy training and awareness. Organizations should use a variety of training methods, such as online training, in-person training, and job aids, to meet the needs of their employees.
• Make training relevant: Literacy training and awareness should be relevant to the roles and responsibilities of the employees who are receiving it. For example, employees who work in IT will need more in-depth training on information security topics than employees who do not work in IT.
• Keep training up-to-date: The information security landscape is constantly changing, so it is important to keep literacy training and awareness up-to-date. Organizations should review their training materials on a regular basis and make updates as needed.
• Measure the effectiveness of training: Organizations should measure the effectiveness of their literacy training and awareness program to ensure that it is meeting its objectives. This can be done through surveys, quizzes, and other assessments.