home/glossary/organization-defined device

organization-defined device

nounverified·updated Oct 3, 2026

A placeholder value in a security or privacy control statement — specifically an **assignment operation** — that an implementing organization fills in during tailoring to name the exact endpoints, hardware types, or classes of endpoint (workstations, servers, mobile devices, IoT sensors, personally-owned BYOD assets, etc.) to which the control applies. It is the variable part of a control or control enhancement that is instantiated by an organization during the tailoring process by assigning an organization-defined value or selecting a value from a predefined list. The expression's force is not "a device of a particular kind" but rather "whichever devices or device types the organization has formally decided belong inside the scope of this requirement": devices requiring identification and authentication are defined by type, device, or a combination, and the category explicitly includes devices not owned by the organization. In practice it gives organizations the latitude described by NIST SP 800-53: organizations can restrict the application of the control to a limited number or type of devices based on mission or business needs, while still committing to a specific, auditable scope once the parameter is set. Once specified, the values for the assignment and selection statements become a permanent part of the control.

MWEWeb lookup drafts

Senses

NIST SP 800-171r3attested usage reviewer confirmed

No definition is given in NIST SP 800-171r3. The term is attested in use at 2 citations in that document; a definition is pending curation.

Classifications

Entity Type

Unknown—authoritativecki_proposal_default_pending_classifier
?unassignedlast reviewed —

Sensitivity

unclassified

Information Class

unclassified

Variants

plural
organization-defined devices
possessive
organization-defined device's
pluralpossessive
organization-defined devices'