The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has been at the forefront of providing comprehensive guidelines to strengthen cybersecurity measures. I recently had the opportunity to review the draft release of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0.
In this article, I'll share the key updates and some practical takeaways that can help your organization bolster its cybersecurity posture.
- Broadened Scope & Universal Relevance: One of the most significant updates in CSF 2.0 is broadening its scope to apply to all organizations, including small businesses and higher education institutions. By removing language specific to critical infrastructure, the framework becomes more universally relevant and accessible.
- New Governance Function: Introducing a new Govern Function focuses on organizational context, risk management strategy, policies, procedures, and roles. This addition positions cyber risks alongside enterprise risks like financial stability threats and highlights the importance of cybersecurity governance.
- Inclusion of Supply Chain Risk Management: The updated framework introduces cybersecurity supply chain risk management outcomes, addressing cybersecurity's crucial but often overlooked aspect. This reflects the growing reliance on external partners, suppliers, and service providers for various aspects of an organization's operations and the potential cyber threats that can originate from or propagate through these third parties.
- Technology Infrastructure Resilience: The Protect Function now stresses the importance of resilient technology infrastructure. This update reflects the growing recognition that organizations must prioritize not only the protection of their information assets but also the resilience of the underlying infrastructure that supports these assets. This involves ensuring that technology infrastructure can withstand, recover from, and adapt to cyber threats, incidents, and disruptions.
- New Focus on Forensics & Learning from Incidents: The updated framework highlights the significance of incident forensics and response management through new Categories in the Respond and Recover Functions. This increased focus on forensics emphasizes the need for organizations to analyze, learn from, and improve their defenses based on the findings from these investigations.
- Enhanced Measurement and Assessment: More guidance on measurement and assessment has been added, providing a common taxonomy and lexicon to communicate the outcome of an organization's measurement and assessment efforts, regardless of the underlying risk management process.
- Improved Alignment to Other Frameworks: CSF 2.0 aims to better align with other NIST and non-NIST security programs, such as the Risk Management Framework and Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity. This improved alignment seeks to streamline the adoption of security controls and enable more effective resource allocation.
- International collaboration: Recognizing the global nature of cybersecurity threats, NIST aims to increase international collaboration and encourage other countries to adopt the framework in whole or in part, recognizing the global nature of cybersecurity threats and promoting a standardized and widely-accepted set of guidelines and best practices.
Now that we've explored the key updates in the NIST CSF 2.0 draft let's focus on the practical takeaways that can help your organization strengthen its cybersecurity posture.?
- Assess Your Cybersecurity Governance: Reevaluate your governance structure and risk management strategies to align with the updated framework.
- Strengthen Supply Chain Security: Evaluate your supply chain risk management practices and identify areas for improvement, as these can be potential weak points in your cybersecurity defense.
- Prioritize Continuous Improvement: Stay ahead of evolving cyber threats by regularly reviewing and updating your cybersecurity policies and practices.
- Focus on Resilient Infrastructure: Invest in robust technology infrastructure and develop strategies for maintaining resilience in the face of cyber threats.
- Enhance Incident Response: Develop and maintain a comprehensive incident response plan that includes incident forensics, mitigation, and recovery, as emphasized by the new Categories in the Respond and Recover Functions.
The NIST CSF 2.0 draft offers organizations a comprehensive set of guidelines to enhance their cybersecurity posture. Staying informed and proactive is the key to navigating the ever-changing landscape of digital threats. Lastly, remember that the NIST CSF 2.0 is still in development. Your organization can engage in the update process (if it hasn't already) and provide valuable feedback to improve this framework.
