connected system

A neighboring or peer information system that shares data flows, communications links, or control relationships with a given system under evaluation, placing it outside that system's authorization boundary while remaining relevant to its security posture. Its distinguishing feature is the cross-boundary relationship: the connected system is not merely a component within the system being assessed, but an external entity whose interactions must be governed, documented, and controlled — for example through interconnection security agreements, flow-enforcement mechanisms, or boundary protection devices. NIST SP 800-171r3 uses the concept to frame rules such as prohibiting CUI transfers between interconnected systems and controlling information flows "within systems and between interconnected systems." NIST SP 800-18r2 similarly treats a system's authorization boundary and its interconnected systems as the combined scope that security and privacy plans must address. Across frameworks, the phrase is applied wherever planners must trace risks, data flows, and control responsibilities that cross from one independently governed system to another.

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