---
title: "SPRS Score Calculator for NIST SP 800-171"
description: "Free SPRS score calculator: all 110 NIST SP 800-171 requirements with DoD point values, a score from 110 to -203, points lost by family and POA&M limits."
url: https://policycortex.com/sprs-score-calculator
sealed: 2026-11-10
amended: 2026-11-10
register: sprs-score-calculator
records: 5
digest: sha3:bde856318f75ff4489744160153d5577c45425899d74c3932f143c23e4374071
---

# SPRS score calculator: 110 requirements, one score.

NIST SP 800-171 Basic Assessment

This SPRS score calculator scores all 110 NIST SP 800-171 requirements with the point values of the DoD Assessment Methodology, version 1.2.1: from 110 down to -203, with the points lost by family and the gaps a CMMC POA&M cannot hold. No sign-up; nothing you mark leaves your browser unless you ask for the report.

[Start marking](#calculator) · [How the score is computed](#method)

## Mark each requirement

Mark each requirement Met or Not met; 3.5.3 and 3.13.11 also take Partial. Count a requirement as Met when it is implemented, when a plan of action covers a temporary deficiency, when the system security plan describes an enduring exception, or when the DoD CIO approved it as not applicable.

The calculator runs in your browser. Your marks are saved on this device so a reload keeps them, and nothing is sent unless you ask for the report by email.

- **3.1 AC**: Access Control: 22 requirements, up to 54 points.
- **3.2 AT**: Awareness and Training: 3 requirements, up to 11 points.
- **3.3 AU**: Audit and Accountability: 9 requirements, up to 19 points.
- **3.4 CM**: Configuration Management: 9 requirements, up to 33 points.
- **3.5 IA**: Identification and Authentication: 11 requirements, up to 27 points.
- **3.6 IR**: Incident Response: 3 requirements, up to 11 points.
- **3.7 MA**: Maintenance: 6 requirements, up to 18 points.
- **3.8 MP**: Media Protection: 9 requirements, up to 23 points.
- **3.9 PS**: Personnel Security: 2 requirements, up to 8 points.
- **3.10 PE**: Physical Protection: 6 requirements, up to 14 points.
- **3.11 RA**: Risk Assessment: 3 requirements, up to 9 points.
- **3.12 CA**: Security Assessment: 4 requirements, up to 13 points.
- **3.13 SC**: System and Communications Protection: 16 requirements, up to 42 points.
- **3.14 SI**: System and Information Integrity: 7 requirements, up to 31 points.

**The 110 requirements and the points each loses when not met**

| Requirement | Family | Points | Requirement text |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1.1 | AC | 5 points | Limit system access to authorized users, processes acting on behalf of authorized users, and devices (including other systems). |
| 3.1.2 | AC | 5 points | Limit system access to the types of transactions and functions that authorized users are permitted to execute. |
| 3.1.3 | AC | 1 point | Control the flow of CUI in accordance with approved authorizations. |
| 3.1.4 | AC | 1 point | Separate the duties of individuals to reduce the risk of malevolent activity without collusion. |
| 3.1.5 | AC | 3 points | Employ the principle of least privilege, including for specific security functions and privileged accounts. |
| 3.1.6 | AC | 1 point | Use non-privileged accounts or roles when accessing non-security functions. |
| 3.1.7 | AC | 1 point | Prevent non-privileged users from executing privileged functions and capture the execution of such functions in audit logs. |
| 3.1.8 | AC | 1 point | Limit unsuccessful logon attempts. |
| 3.1.9 | AC | 1 point | Provide privacy and security notices consistent with applicable CUI rules. |
| 3.1.10 | AC | 1 point | Use session lock with pattern-hiding displays to prevent access and viewing of data after a period of inactivity. |
| 3.1.11 | AC | 1 point | Terminate (automatically) a user session after a defined condition. |
| 3.1.12 | AC | 5 points | Monitor and control remote access sessions. Note: If the system permits no remote access, mark Met: Annex A subtracts nothing. Keep a policy and procedure that stops it being turned on by accident: without one, a Medium assessment takes 1 point. |
| 3.1.13 | AC | 5 points | Employ cryptographic mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of remote access sessions. Note: If the system permits no remote access, mark Met: Annex A subtracts nothing. |
| 3.1.14 | AC | 1 point | Route remote access via managed access control points. |
| 3.1.15 | AC | 1 point | Authorize remote execution of privileged commands and remote access to security-relevant information. |
| 3.1.16 | AC | 5 points | Authorize wireless access prior to allowing such connections. Note: If the system permits no wireless access, mark Met: Annex A subtracts nothing. Keep a policy and procedure that stops it being turned on by accident: without one, a Medium assessment takes 1 point. |
| 3.1.17 | AC | 5 points | Protect wireless access using authentication and encryption. Note: If the system permits no wireless access, mark Met: Annex A subtracts nothing. |
| 3.1.18 | AC | 5 points | Control connection of mobile devices. Note: If no mobile device may connect, mark Met: Annex A subtracts nothing. Keep a policy and procedure that stops it being turned on by accident: without one, a Medium assessment takes 1 point. |
| 3.1.19 | AC | 3 points | Encrypt CUI on mobile devices and mobile computing platforms. |
| 3.1.20 | AC | 1 point | Verify and control/limit connections to and use of external systems. |
| 3.1.21 | AC | 1 point | Limit use of portable storage devices on external systems. |
| 3.1.22 | AC | 1 point | Control CUI posted or processed on publicly accessible systems. |
| 3.2.1 | AT | 5 points | 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. |
| 3.2.2 | AT | 5 points | Ensure that personnel are trained to carry out their assigned information security-related duties and responsibilities. |
| 3.2.3 | AT | 1 point | Provide security awareness training on recognizing and reporting potential indicators of insider threat. |
| 3.3.1 | AU | 5 points | 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. |
| 3.3.2 | AU | 3 points | Ensure that the actions of individual system users can be uniquely traced to those users so they can be held accountable for their actions. |
| 3.3.3 | AU | 1 point | Review and update logged events. |
| 3.3.4 | AU | 1 point | Alert in the event of an audit logging process failure. |
| 3.3.5 | AU | 5 points | Correlate audit record review, analysis, and reporting processes for investigation and response to indications of unlawful, unauthorized, suspicious, or unusual activity. |
| 3.3.6 | AU | 1 point | Provide audit record reduction and report generation to support on-demand analysis and reporting. |
| 3.3.7 | AU | 1 point | Provide a system capability that compares and synchronizes internal system clocks with an authoritative source to generate time stamps for audit records. |
| 3.3.8 | AU | 1 point | Protect audit information and audit logging tools from unauthorized access, modification, and deletion. |
| 3.3.9 | AU | 1 point | Limit management of audit logging functionality to a subset of privileged users. |
| 3.4.1 | CM | 5 points | Establish and maintain baseline configurations and inventories of organizational systems (including hardware, software, firmware, and documentation) throughout the respective system development life cycles. |
| 3.4.2 | CM | 5 points | Establish and enforce security configuration settings for information technology products employed in organizational systems. |
| 3.4.3 | CM | 1 point | Track, review, approve or disapprove, and log changes to organizational systems. |
| 3.4.4 | CM | 1 point | Analyze the security impact of changes prior to implementation. |
| 3.4.5 | CM | 5 points | Define, document, approve, and enforce physical and logical access restrictions associated with changes to organizational systems. |
| 3.4.6 | CM | 5 points | Employ the principle of least functionality by configuring organizational systems to provide only essential capabilities. |
| 3.4.7 | CM | 5 points | Restrict, disable, or prevent the use of nonessential programs, functions, ports, protocols, and services. |
| 3.4.8 | CM | 5 points | 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. |
| 3.4.9 | CM | 1 point | Control and monitor user-installed software. |
| 3.5.1 | IA | 5 points | Identify system users, processes acting on behalf of users, and devices. |
| 3.5.2 | IA | 5 points | Authenticate (or verify) the identities of users, processes, or devices, as a prerequisite to allowing access to organizational systems. |
| 3.5.3 | IA | 3 or 5 points | Use multifactor authentication (MFA) for local and network access to privileged accounts and for network access to non-privileged accounts. Note: Partial: multifactor authentication covers remote and privileged users but not general users. It loses 3 points instead of 5. |
| 3.5.4 | IA | 1 point | Employ replay-resistant authentication mechanisms for network access to privileged and non-privileged accounts. |
| 3.5.5 | IA | 1 point | Prevent reuse of identifiers for a defined period. |
| 3.5.6 | IA | 1 point | Disable identifiers after a defined period of inactivity. |
| 3.5.7 | IA | 1 point | Enforce a minimum password complexity and change of characters when new passwords are created. |
| 3.5.8 | IA | 1 point | Prohibit password reuse for a specified number of generations. |
| 3.5.9 | IA | 1 point | Allow temporary password use for system logons with an immediate change to a permanent password. |
| 3.5.10 | IA | 5 points | Store and transmit only cryptographically-protected passwords. |
| 3.5.11 | IA | 1 point | Obscure feedback of authentication information. |
| 3.6.1 | IR | 5 points | Establish an operational incident-handling capability for organizational systems that includes preparation, detection, analysis, containment, recovery, and user response activities. |
| 3.6.2 | IR | 5 points | Track, document, and report incidents to designated officials and/or authorities both internal and external to the organization. |
| 3.6.3 | IR | 1 point | Test the organizational incident response capability. |
| 3.7.1 | MA | 3 points | Perform maintenance on organizational systems. |
| 3.7.2 | MA | 5 points | Provide controls on the tools, techniques, mechanisms, and personnel used to conduct system maintenance. |
| 3.7.3 | MA | 1 point | Ensure equipment removed for off-site maintenance is sanitized of any CUI. |
| 3.7.4 | MA | 3 points | Check media containing diagnostic and test programs for malicious code before the media are used in organizational systems. |
| 3.7.5 | MA | 5 points | Require multifactor authentication to establish nonlocal maintenance sessions via external network connections and terminate such connections when nonlocal maintenance is complete. |
| 3.7.6 | MA | 1 point | Supervise the maintenance activities of maintenance personnel without required access authorization. |
| 3.8.1 | MP | 3 points | Protect (i.e., physically control and securely store) system media containing CUI, both paper and digital. |
| 3.8.2 | MP | 3 points | Limit access to CUI on system media to authorized users. |
| 3.8.3 | MP | 5 points | Sanitize or destroy system media containing CUI before disposal or release for reuse. |
| 3.8.4 | MP | 1 point | Mark media with necessary CUI markings and distribution limitations. |
| 3.8.5 | MP | 1 point | Control access to media containing CUI and maintain accountability for media during transport outside of controlled areas. |
| 3.8.6 | MP | 1 point | Implement cryptographic mechanisms to protect the confidentiality of CUI stored on digital media during transport unless otherwise protected by alternative physical safeguards. |
| 3.8.7 | MP | 5 points | Control the use of removable media on system components. |
| 3.8.8 | MP | 3 points | Prohibit the use of portable storage devices when such devices have no identifiable owner. |
| 3.8.9 | MP | 1 point | Protect the confidentiality of backup CUI at storage locations. |
| 3.9.1 | PS | 3 points | Screen individuals prior to authorizing access to organizational systems containing CUI. |
| 3.9.2 | PS | 5 points | Ensure that organizational systems containing CUI are protected during and after personnel actions such as terminations and transfers. |
| 3.10.1 | PE | 5 points | Limit physical access to organizational systems, equipment, and the respective operating environments to authorized individuals. |
| 3.10.2 | PE | 5 points | Protect and monitor the physical facility and support infrastructure for organizational systems. |
| 3.10.3 | PE | 1 point | Escort visitors and monitor visitor activity. |
| 3.10.4 | PE | 1 point | Maintain audit logs of physical access. |
| 3.10.5 | PE | 1 point | Control and manage physical access devices. |
| 3.10.6 | PE | 1 point | Enforce safeguarding measures for CUI at alternate work sites. |
| 3.11.1 | RA | 3 points | 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. |
| 3.11.2 | RA | 5 points | Scan for vulnerabilities in organizational systems and applications periodically and when new vulnerabilities affecting those systems and applications are identified. |
| 3.11.3 | RA | 1 point | Remediate vulnerabilities in accordance with risk assessments. |
| 3.12.1 | CA | 5 points | Periodically assess the security controls in organizational systems to determine if the controls are effective in their application. |
| 3.12.2 | CA | 3 points | Develop and implement plans of action designed to correct deficiencies and reduce or eliminate vulnerabilities in organizational systems. Note: Mark Not met if any requirement you have not implemented has no plan of action. |
| 3.12.3 | CA | 5 points | Monitor security controls on an ongoing basis to ensure the continued effectiveness of the controls. |
| 3.12.4 | CA | No point value | 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. Note: No point value. Without a system security plan an assessment cannot be completed, so no score is produced. |
| 3.13.1 | SC | 5 points | 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. |
| 3.13.2 | SC | 5 points | Employ architectural designs, software development techniques, and systems engineering principles that promote effective information security within organizational systems. |
| 3.13.3 | SC | 1 point | Separate user functionality from system management functionality. |
| 3.13.4 | SC | 1 point | Prevent unauthorized and unintended information transfer via shared system resources. |
| 3.13.5 | SC | 5 points | Implement subnetworks for publicly accessible system components that are physically or logically separated from internal networks. |
| 3.13.6 | SC | 5 points | Deny network communications traffic by default and allow network communications traffic by exception (i.e., deny all, permit by exception). |
| 3.13.7 | SC | 1 point | 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). |
| 3.13.8 | SC | 3 points | Implement cryptographic mechanisms to prevent unauthorized disclosure of CUI during transmission unless otherwise protected by alternative physical safeguards. Note: Encryption is not required over a common carrier's MPLS service: its separation counts as protection. |
| 3.13.9 | SC | 1 point | Terminate network connections associated with communications sessions at the end of the sessions or after a defined period of inactivity. |
| 3.13.10 | SC | 1 point | Establish and manage cryptographic keys for cryptography employed in organizational systems. |
| 3.13.11 | SC | 3 or 5 points | Employ FIPS-validated cryptography when used to protect the confidentiality of CUI. Note: Partial: CUI is encrypted, but not with a FIPS-validated module. It loses 3 points instead of 5. Isolated non-validated use covered by a plan of action counts as Met. |
| 3.13.12 | SC | 1 point | Prohibit remote activation of collaborative computing devices and provide indication of devices in use to users present at the device. |
| 3.13.13 | SC | 1 point | Control and monitor the use of mobile code. |
| 3.13.14 | SC | 1 point | Control and monitor the use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technologies. |
| 3.13.15 | SC | 5 points | Protect the authenticity of communications sessions. |
| 3.13.16 | SC | 1 point | Protect the confidentiality of CUI at rest. |
| 3.14.1 | SI | 5 points | Identify, report, and correct system flaws in a timely manner. |
| 3.14.2 | SI | 5 points | Provide protection from malicious code at designated locations within organizational systems. |
| 3.14.3 | SI | 5 points | Monitor system security alerts and advisories and take action in response. |
| 3.14.4 | SI | 5 points | Update malicious code protection mechanisms when new releases are available. |
| 3.14.5 | SI | 3 points | Perform periodic scans of organizational systems and real-time scans of files from external sources as files are downloaded, opened, or executed. |
| 3.14.6 | SI | 5 points | Monitor organizational systems, including inbound and outbound communications traffic, to detect attacks and indicators of potential attacks. |
| 3.14.7 | SI | 3 points | Identify unauthorized use of organizational systems. |

## How the score is computed

The DoD Assessment Methodology starts at 110 and subtracts the value of every requirement not implemented, so a score can fall below zero. These are its rules as the calculator applies them.

- **method.start**: Start at 110, one point for each requirement, and subtract the value of each requirement not met. The lowest possible score is -203, when all 313 points are lost.
- **method.values**: 5 points where a gap could lead to significant exploitation of the network or exfiltration of CUI, 3 where its effect is specific and confined, 1 where it is limited or indirect. 42 requirements carry 5 points, 14 carry 3, 51 carry 1, and 2 carry 3 or 5.
- **method.partial**: Partial credit applies to two requirements only. 3.5.3 loses 3 points instead of 5 when multifactor authentication covers remote and privileged users but not general users. 3.13.11 loses 3 instead of 5 when CUI is encrypted with modules that are not FIPS validated.
- **method.plan**: A plan of action does not make a requirement Met: a requirement not implemented loses its points with or without one. A requirement with no plan of action also makes 3.12.2 Not met.
- **method.met**: Counted as Met: a temporary deficiency addressed in a plan of action, an enduring exception described in the system security plan, and a requirement the DoD CIO approved as not applicable or as met by an equally effective alternative.
- **method.permitted**: Remote access (3.1.12, 3.1.13), wireless access (3.1.16, 3.1.17) and mobile device connection (3.1.18) lose no points when the system does not permit them.
- **method.ssp**: 3.12.4, the system security plan, has no value of its own. Without one an assessment cannot be completed, so the calculator shows no score while 3.12.4 is Not met.
- **method.source**: [NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment Methodology, version 1.2.1 (June 24, 2020), section 5 and Annex A](https://www.acq.osd.mil/asda/dpc/cp/cyber/docs/safeguarding/NIST-SP-800-171-Assessment-Methodology-Version-1.2.1-6.24.2020.pdf)

## What a CMMC POA&M can hold

For the SPRS Basic Assessment, every requirement not yet met needs a plan of action, and it still loses its points. A CMMC Level 2 assessment also limits what a POA&M may hold: under 32 CFR 170.21, a POA&M leads to Conditional status only under the first three rules below, and that status lasts only under the fourth. The calculator marks each gap that can and cannot go on one.

- **poam.score**: The score is at least 88, which is 0.8 of 110.
- **poam.value**: Every requirement on the POA&M is worth 1 point. The one exception is 3.13.11 marked Partial, encryption used but not FIPS validated, worth 3.
- **poam.never**: None of these is on it, whatever its value: 3.1.20 external connections, 3.1.22 public information, 3.10.3 escorting visitors, 3.10.4 physical access logs, 3.10.5 physical access devices, and 3.12.4 the system security plan.
- **poam.closeout**: Each item is closed and confirmed by a closeout assessment within 180 days, or the Conditional status expires.
- **poam.source**: [32 CFR 170.21, Plan of Action and Milestones requirements](https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-32/section-170.21)

## What PolicyCortex does with SPRS

PolicyCortex scores the same 110 requirements with the same values in the product, drafts answers from the evidence it has recorded for a person to confirm, and turns the requirements scored below full credit into POA&M items.

- **sprs.evidence**: [SPRS score evidence: the records behind the score you affirm.](https://policycortex.com/solutions/sprs-score)
- **nist.800-171**: [NIST 800-171 compliance evidence, ready for review.](https://policycortex.com/solutions/nist-800-171)
- **cmmc.assessment**: [The ten-question CMMC Level 2 readiness assessment.](https://policycortex.com/cmmc-assessment)
- **cmmc.checklist**: [The 110-control checklist, by control family.](https://policycortex.com/cmmc-checklist)

## Questions about the SPRS score

**Q: How is the SPRS score calculated?**
A: Start at 110 and subtract the value of each NIST SP 800-171 requirement not implemented: 5, 3 or 1 point, as the DoD Assessment Methodology assigns them. Two requirements, 3.5.3 and 3.13.11, can lose 3 points instead of 5. The lowest possible score is -203.

**Q: What is the lowest possible SPRS score?**
A: -203: every requirement not met, with a system security plan in place. Without a system security plan, 3.12.4, no score can be produced at all, because the methodology says an assessment cannot be completed.

**Q: Does a plan of action raise the score?**
A: No. A requirement not implemented loses its points whether or not a plan of action covers it. The exception is a temporary deficiency that arose after implementation and is addressed in a plan of action, which counts as implemented.

**Q: Which requirements cannot go on a CMMC POA&M?**
A: Any requirement worth more than 1 point, except 3.13.11 when encryption is used but not FIPS validated, and 3.1.20, 3.1.22, 3.10.3, 3.10.4, 3.10.5 and 3.12.4 whatever their value. The score must also be at least 88. The rule is 32 CFR 170.21.

**Q: Is anything I mark sent to PolicyCortex?**
A: No. The calculator runs in your browser and saves your marks on this device only. If you ask for the report by email, your email address and your marks are sent; PolicyCortex works out the same score from them and emails you the report.

**Q: Is this score an assessment of record?**
A: No. It is the methodology's arithmetic applied to your own marks. The score posted in SPRS is the one your organization affirms. PolicyCortex is not an assessor and does not certify anything.

The score is what you affirm. The evidence is what you show. [Request Access](https://app.policycortex.com/auth?mode=request-access) · [Book a call](https://policycortex.com/book)

## Register colophon

| Seq | Label | SHA3-256 | Prev |
|---|---|---|---|
| REC 0000 | THE CALCULATOR | 3bf0a3b3c078 | d764c64c7932 |
| REC 0001 | HOW THE SCORE IS COMPUTED | bb798ca8c849 | 3bf0a3b3c078 |
| REC 0002 | WHAT A CMMC POA&M CAN HOLD | 2844cf95e0ec | bb798ca8c849 |
| REC 0003 | WHAT POLICYCORTEX DOES WITH SPRS | e817f30180b5 | 2844cf95e0ec |
| REC 0004 | FAQ | bde856318f75 | e817f30180b5 |

Head sha3:bde856318f75ff4489744160153d5577c45425899d74c3932f143c23e4374071. Each digest is SHA3-256 over the previous digest, the register key, the record label, and the record copy; a second party can recompute it from this document.