NIST 800-63 compliance refers to adherence to the guidelines outlined in the NIST Special Publication 800-63, titled Digital Identity Guidelines. Developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), this framework defines requirements for the identity proofing, authentication, and federation of digital identities used to access government and critical systems. It introduces measurable assurance levels to ensure that identity-related processes meet risk-based security needs.
As cyberattacks increasingly target authentication processes and credentials, NIST 800-63 provides a framework for trustworthy digital identity management. It is widely adopted by U.S. federal agencies, contractors, and critical infrastructure operators that must ensure secure access to sensitive systems and data.
The 800-63 framework is composed of four parts:
Xona supports NIST 800-63 compliance by enforcing identity-centric access controls aligned with authentication and assurance level requirements. Through multi-factor authentication, role-based access, and credential vaulting and injection, Xona ensures that users are properly authenticated without exposing passwords or shared credentials.
Xona integrates with external identity providers (IdPs) via SAML or OIDC, enabling organizations to meet federation and assertion standards defined in 800-63C. Every access session is tied to an individual identity, logged, and optionally recorded, ensuring traceability and alignment with AAL2+ and FAL requirements for high-impact systems.This helps organizations meet digital identity assurance goals across remote access, privileged sessions, and third-party connections, core use cases addressed by NIST 800-63.