Cyber security can no longer be ignored. With so much of our lives and businesses conducted online, the need for cyber security has never been more important. But what is the best way to protect your company from cyber threats?
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cyber Security Framework is one of the cyber security frameworks designed to help companies identify, assess, manage, and mitigate risks associated with your information technology systems. Let’s take a closer look at what this framework can do for your business.
What is the NIST Cyber Security Framework?
The NIST Cyber Security Framework (CSF) is a voluntary set of guidelines developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
It provides guidance on how to secure an organisation’s information technology systems through a comprehensive risk assessment process that includes identification of threats, evaluation of current policies and procedures, implementation of new policies and procedures where needed, monitoring processes to ensure compliance with existing policies and procedures, response planning in case of a breach or attack, and ongoing risk management activities.
Why Does My Company Need It?
In today’s digital world, it’s essential for organisations to have a comprehensive plan in place to protect your IT systems from cyber-attacks. The NIST CSF provides guidance on how to develop such a plan by identifying key elements such as:
- Asset inventorying
- Threat identification
- Vulnerability management
- Incident response
- Access control
- Identity management
- Data protection
- Activity monitoring
- System configuration
- Activity monitoring
- Proactive management
- System hardening/patching/updates
- Network segmentation/firewalls/intrusion prevention systems (IPS)
- Log analysis/audit trails
- User education/awareness programs
- Continuous diagnostics and mitigation (CDM)
- Incident handling and response plans
These elements are critical components in creating an effective cyber security program that can help protect an organisation from potential threats while also providing compliance with relevant laws and regulations.
By implementing the NIST CSF, your can ensure that your IT systems and data are better protected from cyber threats. It help with mitigating risk against potential data breaches, loss of brand reputation and reduce impact against potential financial loss.
It also provides businesses with a set of best practices to help identify and mitigate risks associated with your IT systems. Additionally, the framework provides guidance on how to respond in case of a breach or attack, which can be invaluable during a crisis situation. Finally, it helps meet compliance requirements and demonstrate commitment to protecting customer data and other sensitive information.
By taking the time to understand and implement the NIST Framework into your security policy, you can ensure that your data is protected and remain compliant with regulations. With a comprehensive approach to cybersecurity, you can protect yourself from potential threats and build trust with your customers. Your team should be thoroughly familiar with this framework so they can make informed decisions when it comes to developing up-to-date security strategies.
5 Areas of the NIST Framework
You can put the NIST Cybersecurity Framework to work in your business in these five areas: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover.
1. Identify
This involves identifying the business assets such as hardware, software, and data and categorizing them based on their importance to the business. It helps in understanding the potential risks associated with each asset which can then be addressed in a timely manner.
2. Protect
This step involves developing policies, procedures, and technologies to safeguard the organization’s assets from both external and internal threats. This includes ensuring that hardware, software, networks, and data are adequately secured with strong access control measures such as encryption, multi-factor authentication and firewalls. By implementing these safeguards, you can minimize the risk of your data being compromised.
3. Detect
The detection phase involves using various methods to detect any suspicious activities on your IT systems. Many companies use intrusion detection systems (IDS) or security information and event management (SIEM) software solutions to monitor network traffic for signs of malicious activity. Additionally, regular vulnerability scans should be conducted to identify any weak points in your system that need to be addressed.
4. Respond
If suspicious activity is detected, it’s important to have a plan in place for how to respond. This includes having policies in place for how employees should handle a potential cyber-attack and setting up an incident response team that can quickly investigate the issue and take necessary action. Additionally, it’s important to have methods of communication established with key stakeholders such as law enforcement and other external partners.
5. Recover
Once the attack has been contained, organizations must focus on recovering from the incident. This includes restoring any lost or damaged data, identifying any gaps in security measures, implementing additional safeguards, and providing training on cybersecurity best practices to ensure that similar incidents don’t occur in the future.
When implemented properly, the NIST Cyber Security Framework can provide your organisation with the security needed to protect its valuable data from cyber criminals. By using the framework’s guidelines as part of your overall cybersecurity strategy, you can significantly enhance your company’s security posture. It can also help you meet compliance requirements and demonstrate your commitment to protecting customer data, which is essential for any successful business.
How Can I Implement It?
Implementing the NIST CSF requires careful planning and coordination between various stakeholders within an organisation including IT personnel, senior executives and managers, legal teams, compliance officers and auditors etc. It also requires significant resources such as budget and personnel time dedicated towards risk assessment activities as well as updating and maintaining existing security controls to ensure they remain up to date with emerging threats. Additionally, there should be regular monitoring activities conducted by both internal staff and external security experts who specialize in areas such as penetration testing and vulnerability assessments which can help identify any potential issues before they become serious problems that could compromise an organisation’s security posture.
The NIST CSF provides organisations with a comprehensive set of guidelines and best practices to help strengthen your overall security posture and protect against cyber threats. By following the framework’s guidance, you can ensure that you’ve have taken the necessary steps towards protecting your IT systems and data from malicious actors. Additionally, it can be used as a reference point for demonstrating compliance with various industry regulations and standards.
Continuous Monitoring is important for staying on top of changes within an environment that could potentially lead to security issues or compliance concerns. Companies should have a dedicated staff responsible for monitoring networks, systems, applications, and other assets on a regular basis in order to detect any suspicious activity promptly.
An independent review to help with a holistic view of your internal IT
Overall, implementing the NIST Cyber Security Framework can be a challenging yet rewarding endeavour. With careful planning and execution, it is possible for businesses to achieve greater levels of security while also meeting applicable regulatory requirements.
The Atarix security experts coupled with a Cyber Security Risk Assessment is a great place to start your cyber security journey. It will help to create a clear roadmap as part of your cyber security strategy, that will help protect your IT systems from potential threats while also ensuring compliance with relevant laws and regulations.