How would you confirm that your company has taken the necessary security precautions to safeguard itself?
How can you demonstrate your diligence in IT?
Only by proving that you followed a code of conduct can you prove that you have taken all the necessary steps. The only way to show diligence is to use an industry standard that has undergone careful inspection by authorities or experts.
If you’re looking for a realistic cybersecurity model that will help your company apply contemporary best practices, using the NIST framework is a fantastic place to start.
Development of NIST’s CyberSecurity Framework (CSF)
An Executive Order was launched which started the CSF development process.This order initiatives on information sharing about cybersecurity threats and on developing a framework of tried-and-true methods for lowering the risk to critical infrastructure.
- NIST was charged with creating a “Cybersecurity Framework” under this Executive Order.
- The National Institute of Standards & Technology (NIST), a non-regulatory Federal institution that serves as an objective source of
- scientific data and standards, including cybersecurity practices, was chosen for the mission of designing the Framework.
- CSF makes use of components of currently used, well-known risk management frameworks, procedures, and principles. (i.e., COBIT, ISA, ISO 27001, and NIST SP 800/53).
Inception & Purpose of CSF
The NIST CSF’s goal is to establish a consistent vocabulary and set of principles for enterprises to address cybersecurity risks.
The framework provides a flexible and voluntary way for enterprises to analyse and enhance their cybersecurity posture. It provides a collection of best practices and standards that businesses may employ to identify, defend, detect, respond to, and recover from cybersecurity issues. The framework also provides an organised way to measure and manage cybersecurity risks, as well as identifying opportunities for improvement.
The NIST CSF is not a standard or law, but rather a framework for enterprises to follow when developing their own cybersecurity plans. It is intended to be adaptive and versatile, with the ability to be adjusted to the unique demands of a business. The framework is designed for use by organisations of all sizes and industries, including government, corporate, and critical infrastructure.
How to incorporate the NIST Framework in Your Organization?
STEP 1: Set up some data security goals so you can better gauge your progress. The Core provides desired cybersecurity actions and results that are an excellent addition to your company’s current cybersecurity work.
Core Functions
A high-level, strategic picture of the lifecycle of an organisation’s management of cybersecurity risk is what the Five Pillars are meant to deliver.
- Identify: The primary goal of this job is to promote organisational understanding of how to manage cybersecurity risk to systems, assets, data, and capabilities. Asset management, the business environment, governance, risk assessment, risk management strategy, and supply chain risk management are the six categories that make up the function.
- Protect: The execution of the necessary measures to guarantee the provision of essential services is the responsibility of this function. Access control, awareness and training, data security, information protection processes, maintenance, and protective technology are the six categories in this role.
- Detect: This feature focuses on the techniques needed to spot cybersecurity threats. Anomalies and events, continuous security monitoring, and detection processes are the 3 categories that make up this function.
- Respond: This function outlines the steps that need to be followed in reaction to cybersecurity threats that have been identified. Response planning, communications, analysis, mitigation, and improvements are the 5 categories in this role.
- Recover: The restoration of services that were impacted by a cybersecurity event is the focus of this function. Planning for recovery, making changes, and communicating are the three categories of this function.
STEP 2: Specify levels of Framework Core compliance, through implementation tiers,to assist organisations in discussing and deciding on the level of rigour that is most appropriate for their cybersecurity program.
Implementation Tiers
These are the cybersecurity activities that are arranged according to certain results. It makes it possible for an organisation to share information about cybersecurity concerns.
Tier 1 : Partial : At Tier 1 cybersecurity strategies lack formalisation, and risk is handled on an as-needed basis. Threat environment, business needs, or organisational risk do not directly influence cybersecurity operations.
Tier 2 : Risk-Informed : At Tier 2, the business employs some risk management procedures, but they are not formally documented or applied uniformly. Some cybersecurity initiatives may be directly influenced by organisational risk, threat environment, or commercial requirements.
Tier 3 : Repeatable : A structured, enterprise-wide cybersecurity plan is in place at Tier 3. Policies are developed, put into practice, and evaluated.
Tier 4 : Adaptive : At Tier 4, the business exhibits a well-developed cybersecurity strategy that draws on prior knowledge and prognostic indicators of the threat environment.
Step 3: Create a thorough profile with the assistance of the implementation tiers to find out where your company needs to improve and what steps need to be done to make those changes happen.
Implementation Tiers
The Framework Profile is the result of the alignment of the organisation’s resources, risk tolerance, and business requirements with the functions, categories, and subcategories. They can be used to characterise either the actual status of a certain cybersecurity activity or its intended goal state.
- Current profile lists the cybersecurity accomplishments made in relation to the framework’s areas and subcategories.
- Target Profile lists the results required to reach the specified cybersecurity risk management objectives.
- Gaps are found by contrasting Profiles (e.g., the Current Profile and Target Profile).Findings should include vulnerabilities and threats to the organisation’s operations, assets and individuals.
- A roadmap is created for lowering cybersecurity risk that is in line with organisational and industry objectives, legal and regulatory standards, and best practices for the sector, as well as risk management priorities.
Step 4: It is now time to execute the NIST Cybersecurity Framework with a clear understanding of your organisation’s current cybersecurity efforts provided by the risk assessment and gap analysis, as well as a concept of what you want to accomplish through your set of goals and plan of action.It is crucial to remember that your cybersecurity efforts should continue even after the NIST Framework has been implemented.
The most common errors made when implementing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework are :
- Lack of early management support and clearly defined responsibilities.
- Mistaking a risk assessment for a gap analysis
- Including unqualified people or not training the employees.
- Not engaging the risk owners with clear data on priorities and progress.
How can SecurDI help?
A cyber security framework is essential for combating the threat of cybercrime as it spreads around the globe. Evaluating your cyber security efforts becomes nearly difficult without objectives and knowledge of different risk tolerance levels. SecurDI can give your company the finest resources to fight cybercrime by putting the above into practice and customising the NIST Framework to your industry.
Author – Anagha P.K