Federal & defense · free tool
SPRS score worksheet
Work out the NIST SP 800-171 self-assessment score you are required to post in SPRS. All 110 security requirements, weighted exactly as the DoD Assessment Methodology weights them. Free, no email required — and nothing you enter here is sent anywhere.
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This worksheet runs entirely on your device. Your responses are never transmitted to Cyberneza or anyone else — there is no submit button, no network request, and the site’s analytics and session recording are switched off across this worksheet. That is deliberate: which of the 110 requirements you have not implemented is a description of how to attack you, and it is not ours to hold.
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How the score works
You start at 110 — one point for each requirement — and every requirement you have not implemented subtracts its weight. Weights are 5, 3 or 1 point depending on how much the gap exposes, so the score is not a percentage and a negative score is not unusual. The range runs from 110 down to −203.
- 42 requirements are worth 5 points — gaps that could lead to significant exploitation of the network or exfiltration of CUI.
- 14 are worth 3 points — gaps with a specific, confined effect.
- 51 are worth 1 point — limited or indirect effect.
- Two allow partial credit. 3.5.3 (MFA) and 3.13.11 (FIPS-validated cryptography) subtract 3 instead of 5 when partially implemented.
- 3.12.4 is not scored. A system security plan is the precondition for assessing at all — see below.
Weights are taken from the NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment Methodology, Version 1.2.1 (24 June 2020), Annex A.
Without a system security plan there is no score to post
You marked 3.12.4 as absent. The DoD Assessment Methodology is based on reviewing a system security plan, so without one the outcome is not a low score — it is a finding that “an assessment could not be completed due to incomplete information and noncompliance with DFARS clause 252.204-7012.” The number below is what you would score once a plan exists.
Access Control
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3.1.1 5 pts
Limit system access to authorized users, processes acting on behalf of authorized users, and devices (including other systems).
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3.1.2 5 pts
Limit system access to the types of transactions and functions that authorized users are permitted to execute.
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3.1.3 1 pt
Control the flow of CUI in accordance with approved authorizations.
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3.1.4 1 pt
Separate the duties of individuals to reduce the risk of malevolent activity without collusion.
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3.1.5 3 pts
Employ the principle of least privilege, including for specific security functions and privileged accounts.
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3.1.6 1 pt
Use non-privileged accounts or roles when accessing non-security functions.
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3.1.7 1 pt
Prevent non-privileged users from executing privileged functions and capture the execution of such functions in audit logs.
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3.1.8 1 pt
Limit unsuccessful logon attempts.
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3.1.9 1 pt
Provide privacy and security notices consistent with applicable CUI rules.
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3.1.10 1 pt
Use session lock with pattern-hiding displays to prevent access and viewing of data after a period of inactivity.
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3.1.11 1 pt
Terminate (automatically) a user session after a defined condition.
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3.1.12 5 pts
Monitor and control remote access sessions.
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3.1.13 5 pts
Employ cryptographic mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of remote access sessions.
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3.1.14 1 pt
Route remote access via managed access control points.
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3.1.15 1 pt
Authorize remote execution of privileged commands and remote access to securityrelevant information.
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3.1.16 5 pts
Authorize wireless access prior to allowing such connections.
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3.1.17 5 pts
Protect wireless access using authentication and encryption.
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3.1.18 5 pts
Control connection of mobile devices.
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3.1.19 3 pts
Encrypt CUI on mobile devices and mobile computing platforms.
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3.1.20 1 pt
Verify and control/limit connections to and use of external systems.
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3.1.21 1 pt
Limit use of portable storage devices on external systems.
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3.1.22 1 pt
Control CUI posted or processed on publicly accessible systems.
Awareness and Training
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3.2.1 5 pts
Ensure that managers, systems administrators, and users of organizational systems are made aware of the security risks associated with their activities and of the applicable policies, standards, and procedures related to the security of those systems.
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3.2.2 5 pts
Ensure that personnel are trained to carry out their assigned information securityrelated duties and responsibilities.
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3.2.3 1 pt
Provide security awareness training on recognizing and reporting potential indicators of insider threat.
Audit and Accountability
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3.3.1 5 pts
Create and retain system audit logs and records to the extent needed to enable the monitoring, analysis, investigation, and reporting of unlawful or unauthorized system activity.
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3.3.2 3 pts
Ensure that the actions of individual system users can be uniquely traced to those users so they can be held accountable for their actions.
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3.3.3 1 pt
Review and update logged events.
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3.3.4 1 pt
Alert in the event of an audit logging process failure.
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3.3.5 5 pts
Correlate audit record review, analysis, and reporting processes for investigation and response to indications of unlawful, unauthorized, suspicious, or unusual activity.
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3.3.6 1 pt
Provide audit record reduction and report generation to support on-demand analysis and reporting.
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3.3.7 1 pt
Provide a system capability that compares and synchronizes internal system clocks with an authoritative source to generate time stamps for audit records.
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3.3.8 1 pt
Protect audit information and audit logging tools from unauthorized access, modification, and deletion.
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3.3.9 1 pt
Limit management of audit logging functionality to a subset of privileged users.
Configuration Management
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3.4.1 5 pts
Establish and maintain baseline configurations and inventories of organizational systems (including hardware, software, firmware, and documentation) throughout the respective system development life cycles.
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3.4.2 5 pts
Establish and enforce security configuration settings for information technology products employed in organizational systems.
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3.4.3 1 pt
Track, review, approve or disapprove, and log changes to organizational systems.
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3.4.4 1 pt
Analyze the security impact of changes prior to implementation.
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3.4.5 5 pts
Define, document, approve, and enforce physical and logical access restrictions associated with changes to organizational systems.
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3.4.6 5 pts
Employ the principle of least functionality by configuring organizational systems to provide only essential capabilities.
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3.4.7 5 pts
Restrict, disable, or prevent the use of nonessential programs, functions, ports, protocols, and services.
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3.4.8 5 pts
Apply deny-by-exception (blacklisting) policy to prevent the use of unauthorized software or deny-all, permit-by-exception (whitelisting) policy to allow the execution of authorized software.
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3.4.9 1 pt
Control and monitor user-installed software.
Identification and Authentication
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3.5.1 5 pts
Identify system users, processes acting on behalf of users, and devices.
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3.5.2 5 pts
Authenticate (or verify) the identities of users, processes, or devices, as a prerequisite to allowing access to organizational systems.
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3.5.3 3–5 pts
Use multifactor authentication (MFA) for local and network access to privileged accounts and for network access to nonprivileged accounts.
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3.5.4 1 pt
Employ replay-resistant authentication mechanisms for network access to privileged and non-privileged accounts.
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3.5.5 1 pt
Prevent reuse of identifiers for a defined period.
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3.5.6 1 pt
Disable identifiers after a defined period of inactivity.
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3.5.7 1 pt
Enforce a minimum password complexity and change of characters when new passwords are created.
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3.5.8 1 pt
Prohibit password reuse for a specified number of generations.
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3.5.9 1 pt
Allow temporary password use for system logons with an immediate change to a permanent password.
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3.5.10 5 pts
Store and transmit only cryptographicallyprotected passwords.
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3.5.11 1 pt
Obscure feedback of authentication information.
Incident Response
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3.6.1 5 pts
Establish an operational incident-handling capability for organizational systems that includes preparation, detection, analysis, containment, recovery, and user response activities.
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3.6.2 5 pts
Track, document, and report incidents to designated officials and/or authorities both internal and external to the organization.
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3.6.3 1 pt
Test the organizational incident response capability.
Maintenance
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3.7.1 3 pts
Perform maintenance on organizational systems.
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3.7.2 5 pts
Provide controls on the tools, techniques, mechanisms, and personnel used to conduct system maintenance.
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3.7.3 1 pt
Ensure equipment removed for off-site maintenance is sanitized of any CUI.
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3.7.4 3 pts
Check media containing diagnostic and test programs for malicious code before the media are used in organizational systems.
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3.7.5 5 pts
Require multifactor authentication to establish nonlocal maintenance sessions via external network connections and terminate such connections when nonlocal maintenance is complete.
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3.7.6 1 pt
Supervise the maintenance activities of maintenance personnel without required access authorization.
Media Protection
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3.8.1 3 pts
Protect (i.e., physically control and securely store) system media containing CUI, both paper and digital.
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3.8.2 3 pts
Limit access to CUI on system media to authorized users.
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3.8.3 5 pts
Sanitize or destroy system media containing CUI before disposal or release for reuse.
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3.8.4 1 pt
Mark media with necessary CUI markings and distribution limitations.
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3.8.5 1 pt
Control access to media containing CUI and maintain accountability for media during transport outside of controlled areas.
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3.8.6 1 pt
Implement cryptographic mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of CUI stored on digital media during transport unless otherwise protected by alternative physical safeguards.
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3.8.7 5 pts
Control the use of removable media on system components.
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3.8.8 3 pts
Prohibit the use of portable storage devices when such devices have no identifiable owner.
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3.8.9 1 pt
Protect the confidentiality of backup CUI at storage locations.
Personnel Security
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3.9.1 3 pts
Screen individuals prior to authorizing access to organizational systems containing CUI.
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3.9.2 5 pts
Ensure that organizational systems containing CUI are protected during and after personnel actions such as terminations and transfers.
Physical Protection
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3.10.1 5 pts
Limit physical access to organizational systems, equipment, and the respective operating environments to authorized individuals.
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3.10.2 5 pts
Protect and monitor the physical facility and support infrastructure for organizational systems.
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3.10.3 1 pt
Escort visitors and monitor visitor activity.
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3.10.4 1 pt
Maintain audit logs of physical access.
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3.10.5 1 pt
Control and manage physical access devices.
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3.10.6 1 pt
Enforce safeguarding measures for CUI at alternate work sites.
Risk Assessment
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3.11.1 3 pts
Periodically assess the risk to organizational operations (including mission, functions, image, or reputation), organizational assets, and individuals, resulting from the operation of organizational systems and the associated processing, storage, or transmission of CUI.
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3.11.2 5 pts
Scan for vulnerabilities in organizational systems and applications periodically and when new vulnerabilities affecting those systems and applications are identified.
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3.11.3 1 pt
Remediate vulnerabilities in accordance with risk assessments.
Security Assessment
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3.12.1 5 pts
Periodically assess the security controls in organizational systems to determine if the controls are effective in their application.
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3.12.2 3 pts
Develop and implement plans of action designed to correct deficiencies and reduce or eliminate vulnerabilities in organizational systems.
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3.12.3 5 pts
Monitor security controls on an ongoing basis to ensure the continued effectiveness of the controls.
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3.12.4 Gate
Develop, document, and periodically update system security plans that describe system boundaries, system environments of operation, how security requirements are implemented, and the relationships with or connections to other systems.
System and Communications Protection
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3.13.1 5 pts
Monitor, control, and protect communications (i.e., information transmitted or received by organizational systems) at the external boundaries and key internal boundaries of organizational systems.
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3.13.2 5 pts
Employ architectural designs, software development techniques, and systems engineering principles that promote effective information security within organizational systems.
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3.13.3 1 pt
Separate user functionality from system management functionality.
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3.13.4 1 pt
Prevent unauthorized and unintended information transfer via shared system resources.
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3.13.5 5 pts
Implement subnetworks for publicly accessible system components that are physically or logically separated from internal networks.
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3.13.6 5 pts
Deny network communications traffic by default and allow network communications traffic by exception (i.e., deny all, permit by exception).
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3.13.7 1 pt
Prevent remote devices from simultaneously establishing non-remote connections with organizational systems and communicating via some other connection to resources in external networks (i.e., split tunneling).
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3.13.8 3 pts
Implement cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure of CUI during transmission unless otherwise protected by alternative physical safeguards.
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3.13.9 1 pt
Terminate network connections associated with communications sessions at the end of the sessions or after a defined period of inactivity.
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3.13.10 1 pt
Establish and manage cryptographic keys for cryptography employed in organizational systems.
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3.13.11 3–5 pts
Employ FIPS-validated cryptography when used to protect the confidentiality of CUI.
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3.13.12 1 pt
Prohibit remote activation of collaborative computing devices and provide indication of devices in use to users present at the device.
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3.13.13 1 pt
Control and monitor the use of mobile code.
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3.13.14 1 pt
Control and monitor the use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies.
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3.13.15 5 pts
Protect the authenticity of communications sessions.
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3.13.16 1 pt
Protect the confidentiality of CUI at rest.
System and Information Integrity
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3.14.1 5 pts
Identify, report, and correct system flaws in a timely manner.
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3.14.2 5 pts
Provide protection from malicious code at designated locations within organizational systems.
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3.14.3 5 pts
Monitor system security alerts and advisories and take action in response.
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3.14.4 5 pts
Update malicious code protection mechanisms when new releases are available.
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3.14.5 3 pts
Perform periodic scans of organizational systems and real-time scans of files from external sources as files are downloaded, opened, or executed.
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3.14.6 5 pts
Monitor organizational systems, including inbound and outbound communications traffic, to detect attacks and indicators of potential attacks.
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3.14.7 3 pts
Identify unauthorized use of organizational systems.
Common questions about SPRS scoring
What is a good SPRS score?
There is no published pass mark. DFARS 252.204-7019 requires a current score to be posted, not a particular number, and 110 means every one of the 110 NIST SP 800-171 requirements is fully implemented. Contracting officers see the score alongside your assessment date and your target date for reaching 110, so a candid score with a credible plan of action reads better than an inflated one. Scores are routinely negative on a first honest self-assessment, because the weights subtract 5, 3 or 1 point rather than a percentage.
How is the SPRS score calculated?
You start at 110 and subtract the weight of every requirement that is not fully implemented. The DoD Assessment Methodology weights 42 requirements at 5 points, 14 at 3 points and 51 at 1 point. Two allow partial credit: 3.5.3 (multifactor authentication) and 3.13.11 (FIPS-validated cryptography) subtract 3 rather than 5 when partially implemented. The maximum total deduction is 313, so the lowest possible score is minus 203.
Why is 3.12.4 not worth any points?
Because the assessment is a review of your system security plan, the plan is the precondition for scoring rather than a scored item, and Annex A marks 3.12.4 as NA. If no system security plan exists the result is not a low score but a finding that an assessment could not be completed due to incomplete information and noncompliance with DFARS clause 252.204-7012.
Does a POA&M improve my score?
No. A plan of action is required for every unimplemented requirement, but it is not a substitute for implementing one. A requirement that is only partly rolled out still scores as not implemented even with a plan of action in place. The score moves when the work is finished.
Is this worksheet an official DoD tool?
No. It is a free self-assessment aid that applies the weights published in the NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment Methodology, Version 1.2.1. It implements the Basic self-assessment level; Medium and High assessments are conducted by the Government and can reach different conclusions. Your SPRS submission remains yours to make.
Do my answers get sent to Cyberneza?
No. The worksheet runs entirely in your browser. There is no submit button and no network request carrying your answers, and the worksheet is excluded from the site's analytics and session recording. Saving keeps a copy in your own browser's local storage on that device only, and clearing removes it.
What to do with the number
The CSV download gives you one row per requirement with its weight and your answer, which is a workable starting point for a POA&M.
If the number is lower than you expected
That is the normal result of a first honest self-assessment, and it is more useful than a flattering one. If you want a second pair of eyes on the scoping decisions behind it — particularly which systems are actually inside your CUI boundary, since that is what determines how many of the 110 apply to you at all — that is the conversation to have.
Scope and limits — read before relying on this
- This is a self-assessment aid, not an official DoD tool and not a substitute for the methodology document. Your SPRS submission is yours; Cyberneza does not see it and cannot make it on your behalf.
- It implements the Basic (self-assessment) scoring level. Medium and High assessments are conducted by the Government and can reach different conclusions.
- It scores against NIST SP 800-171 Revision 2, the revision the DoD Assessment Methodology v1.2.1 weights and the one DFARS 252.204-7019/7020 has operated against. Confirm which revision your contract invokes.
- A requirement counts as implemented only if it is fully implemented. A partly-finished rollout with a plan of action still scores as not implemented — with the two documented partial-credit exceptions above.
- Requirements that do not apply to your environment still need a documented basis in your system security plan. This worksheet does not model enduring exceptions or temporary deficiencies.
