With cybercrime consistently rising around the world and across multiple industries, many organizations are desperate for ways to tighten up their defenses and be better prepared for the worst. The National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) can be a powerful tool here.
If you implement this framework correctly, you’ll be better equipped to detect cyber risks and respond to threats quickly and effectively. You’ll be able to take a proactive and preventative approach to security, dealing with threats before they happen, and you’ll be well-placed to take action and recover when security events do occur.
Keep reading to learn why the NIST CSF is so useful for businesses and dig into the framework’s six core concepts.
What Is the NIST CSF & Why Is It Important?
The NIST CSF is a set of standards and recommendations broken into six key functions that aim to improve companies’ overall security posture. The framework outlines the most important areas to pay attention to and the concrete steps you should take to bolster security.
Implementing the NIST CSF can have numerous benefits for your organization, such as the ability to:
- Better understand your current cybersecurity posture, your organizational structure, and the risks you’re facing.
- Gain deeper and more useful insights into how your security posture can improve and build a concrete roadmap to follow.
- Put more reliable and effective security processes in place at every level of your organization.
- Discover threats quickly so you can take action and eliminate risks before they develop into crises.
- Respond to ongoing security events with speed and focus, resolving issues before major damage can take place.
- Recover from security incidents effectively, getting your organization up and running with minimal downtime or lasting damage and avoiding future problems.
The NIST CSF is highly regarded — it’s viewed as one of the most valuable resources for organizations looking to put a stronger cybersecurity infrastructure in place. To make the most of the NIST CSF standards and recommendations, it’s worth understanding its core functions and how they can benefit your company.
What Are the 6 Core Functions of the NIST CSF?
The core functions of the NIST CSF are designed to help you take a more structured, focused approach to security by following specific guidelines in key areas. Each function relates to one another, and you’ll need to follow the guidelines — in order — to see meaningful results.
Govern
Govern is the starting point on your NIST CSF journey and where you’ll build out the overarching strategy for your security, laying the foundations for the rest of your work.
You’ll clearly outline your goals, the main risks you face, and how your cybersecurity policy impacts the rest of your organization. This is also the stage at which you’ll start to outline key roles and responsibilities within your security infrastructure.
The decisions you make and goals you set will inform what you do in the other five functions.
Identify
Identify is all about gaining a clear and detailed overview of the state of your organization’s cybersecurity. You’ll look at key processes, systems, data, activities, people, and assets that need protection, with the goal of gaining maximum visibility. This stage is critical because it allows you to prioritize your next steps and focus your attention and resources where they’re needed most.
Also, take this opportunity to look for areas that could be improved and flesh out a more concrete roadmap for the rest of your cybersecurity efforts.
Protect
Now it’s time to start securing your assets. The Protect function is where you’ll put concrete measures in place to keep your organization safe, in accordance with the priorities you laid out in the previous stage.
Consider implementing measures like role-based access controls, multifactor authentication, and training around passwords and security best practices; securing virtual and physical platforms; firewall security; and backup and recovery.
Detect
Detect is an ongoing function that involves setting up the ability to continuously monitor for cyber threats and uncover them quickly.
For best results, you’ll need to constantly update and tweak your detection tools, allowing your teams to promptly notice anything that seems suspicious or concerning. Keeping detailed logs of your activities and data is a useful step here as it allows you to notice anomalies more clearly and take rapid action.
Respond
Unfortunately, despite your best efforts, cyber attacks can and do still happen. This is where the Respond function comes in, allowing you to deal with incidents quickly, effectively, and with minimal lasting damage.
For best results, you’ll need to ensure your teams are well aware of what they need to do in a crisis situation, ensuring a fast and coordinated response. You’ll also need to ensure ongoing and clear communication with any stakeholders and other key parties during and after the event.
In the aftermath of the attack, you should carry out a detailed analysis to assess the extent of the damage, confirm the threat is no more, and find out what went wrong so you can fix any vulnerabilities and prevent future incidents.
Recover
Once you have dealt with a cyber attack and removed the threat, the process of recovery begins. Your goal here is to restore the normal functions of your business as quickly as possible while remaining safe. All assets and operations that were affected by the attack need to be restored in a way that minimizes any negative consequences of the event.
During this process, you should focus on maintaining constant communication, both within your organization and with any relevant third parties.
Work With DYOPATH
Implementing the NIST CSF framework comes with numerous significant benefits, but it can also be complex and demanding.
Working with a team of experienced security professionals can make the process easier and more successful. At DYOPATH, we walk organizations through the steps required to comply with NIST CSF and take a multifaceted approach to improving their security in many other areas, too.
If you’re ready to take advantage of a seasoned, experienced security team, contact DYOPATH today.
