As the Department of Defense (DoD) accelerates its Zero Trust journey, protecting sensitive mission-critical workloads is paramount. At the center of this push is Impact Level 5 (IL5) authorization, a crucial designation for cloud service providers, defense contractors, and integrators entrusted with Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and National Security Systems (NSS) data. Achieving IL5 is not only about compliance, it's about ensuring resilient, trustworthy, and uncompromised systems capable of supporting defense operations.
This is where CimTrak delivers unique value. By providing continuous integrity monitoring, automated remediation, and audit-ready reporting, CimTrak enables organizations to align with DoD IL5 security requirements while strengthening Zero Trust implementation.
Quick Summary
As the DoD drives toward Zero Trust and stronger protection for CUI and NSS data, IL5 has become the new operational standard. CimTrak empowers organizations to achieve and sustain IL5 authorization with unmatched visibility, integrity assurance, and compliance alignment.
In short, CimTrak doesn't just help meet IL5 requirements; it strengthens mission assurance, cyber resilience, and trust at the speed of defense.
What is IL5?
IL5 is based on NIST SP 800-53 Rev. 5 moderate-to-high controls, with DoD overlays applied. The following diagram highlights where CimTrak provides a control, automated scan, or enables a process, procedure, or policy to assist with the evidence collection to meet the objective of a defined domain, category, control, standard, component, or assessment factor.
Control breakdown:
- NIST 800-53 total controls — 1,189
- CimTrak controls alignment and crosswalk — 264 (22%)
Why IL5 Matters
DoD IL5 authorization establishes stringent requirements for securing workloads that process, store, or transmit CUI and higher sensitivity mission data. IL5 mandates:
- System and data integrity protections against unauthorized changes
- Real-time detection and response to threats
- Comprehensive auditability to meet compliance reporting needs
- Strong access controls and continuous verification (aligned with Zero Trust principles)
For organizations supporting DoD missions, IL5 is not optional; it's the bar for earning and maintaining trust in critical defense ecosystems.
CimTrak's Role in Achieving IL5
CimTrak provides a policy-enforcing layer of trust and resilience that directly supports IL5 requirements across the following dimensions:
System Integrity & Change Control
IL5 requires organizations to safeguard against unauthorized modifications to systems and applications. CimTrak continuously monitors files, configurations, registries, and system objects, detecting and recording every change. Trusted baselines ensure only authorized, compliant changes are permitted, while deviations trigger alerts and remediation.
Zero Trust Alignment
IL5 compliance ties directly into the DoD Zero Trust Capabilities Roadmap. CimTrak enforces the data and application integrity pillars of Zero Trust by ensuring workloads are uncompromised before access is granted, enabling comply-to-connect (C2C) strategies that stop non-compliant devices from connecting.
DoD Zero Trust Capabilities Roadmap control breakdown:
- Target Level — 91
- CimTrak meets the capability — 30 (33%)
- CimTrak enables capability/functionality — 17 (19%)
Automated Remediation & Mission Resiliency
Rather than stopping at detection, CimTrak can automatically roll back unauthorized or malicious changes, restoring workloads to a trusted state in real time. This strengthens operational resiliency, which is critical in IL5 environments where downtime or compromise is unacceptable.
Audit-Ready Reporting
CimTrak maintains a tamper-evident, cryptographically sealed audit log, giving organizations defensible proof of compliance for IL5 assessments. Reports map directly to NIST 800-53 and other IL5-relevant control frameworks, reducing the burden of audits and accelerating the path to authorization.
For defense contractors, integrators, and service providers, IL5 compliance is more than a check box; it's a differentiator. By implementing CimTrak, organizations can:
- Accelerate IL5 authorization with audit-ready integrity and compliance reporting
- Reduce risk exposure by ensuring workloads remain trusted and uncompromised
- Support mission resilience by rapidly restoring trusted baselines after attacks
- Enhance Zero Trust adoption through real-time integrity enforcement
Achieving and sustaining DoD IL5 authorization is essential for any organization handling CUI or NSS data. With CimTrak, defense contractors, service providers, and integrators gain the visibility, control, and audit-ready reporting needed to align with IL5 requirements and support operational resilience.
See firsthand how CimTrak can support your IL5 compliance and Zero Trust objectives by visiting www.cimcor.com/demo to schedule a custom demo.
