03.14.03 — (a) Receive system security alerts, advisories, and directives from external organizations on an ongoing basis. (b) Generate and disseminate internal system security alerts, advisories, and directives, as necessary.

What this control requires

(a) Receive system security alerts, advisories, and directives from external organizations on an ongoing basis. (b) Generate and disseminate internal system security alerts, advisories, and directives, as necessary.

Source: NIST SP 800-171 R3 §03.14.03 (official control text).

Why this matters

Organizations face a constant stream of newly discovered vulnerabilities, active exploits, and emerging threat campaigns. Without systematic processes to receive, evaluate, and act on external security intelligence from government agencies (CISA, NSA, FBI), vendors, and industry groups, critical patches and defensive measures get missed. Internally, when your security team identifies risks or mandatory actions, you need formal channels to alert IT staff, system owners, and leadership so protective measures deploy organization-wide before incidents occur. This control ensures both inbound threat awareness and outbound action coordination happen reliably.

What evidence assessors expect

Assessors typically look for: PDF, screenshot, CSV export. FORCE coaches you through the exact implementation steps and captures each artifact in-platform.

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