NIST Cybersecurity Framework Overview

Cybercriminals and data breaches have become the trending headlines of the year. The onslaught of cyberattacks is not only increasing in volume, but also in severity. Organizations possessing sensitive data have no other option but to implement a strong cybersecurity risk management system. Should they fail to manage their risk, security failures can imperil their operations and jeopardize their credibility. The myriad rules and regulations related to cybersecurity and data protection can be overwhelming, leaving business owners unsure where to begin. Enter the Cybersecurity Framework.

What is the NIST Cybersecurity Framework?

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has rolled out a simple and easy Cybersecurity Framework (the “Framework”). It is an all-inclusive framework that organizations in both private and public sectors, irrespective of their size or stature, can utilize. The Framework offers guidelines on best practices that organizations need to manage and reduce their cybersecurity risks while evaluating and strengthening their current cybersecurity and risk management systems.  

Pillars of the Framework

The five core functions of the NIST Framework are as follows:

1. Identify: Helping to develop overall cybersecurity risk management by understanding the critical assets, business environment, governance model, and supply chain.
2. Protect: Implementing defensive controls to safeguard critical assets.
3. Detect: Spotting and investigating active threat and anomalies, and continuous monitoring of the process.
4. Respond: Taking the right action through incident response planning to prevent heavy damaged in case of an attack.
5. Recover: Restoring operations through recovery planning and continuous improvement.

By focusing on these five pillars, a proper risk management system can be custom built around the most critical areas of a business.  

Next Steps

While the Cybersecurity Framework is intuitive, understanding its various intricacies may require some additional expertise. Contact Citrin Cooperman to gain a clear understanding of the Framework and implement it today.