The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is a set of guidelines and best practices designed to help organisations better manage and reduce cybersecurity risk. It stands for the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (CSF).
The Framework was developed by NIST, part of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and first published in 2014, following an executive order by then President, Barack Obama which focused on improving the cybersecurity of critical infrastructure in the United States.
More recently, in February 2024, the Institute released CSF 2.0, an updated version of the framework, and the first major revision since its original publication. The revised framework expands its scope beyond critical infrastructure to include all types of organisations, regardless of size or sector, with an enhanced emphasis on governance and supply chain management.
Explaining the update, Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Laurie E. Locascio said: “The CSF has been a vital tool for many organizations, helping them anticipate and deal with cybersecurity threats. CSF 2.0, which builds on previous versions, is not just about one document. It is about a suite of resources that can be customized and used individually or in combination over time as an organization’s cybersecurity needs change and its capabilities evolve.”
And while it’s a US government created framework, over the last decade it’s been widely adopted, referenced and translated for use in other nations. NIST works with the ISO and IEC to align its CSF with other international guidelines.
Core Components of the NIST Cyber security Framework
The framework comprises three main components:
The Framework Core:
The Framework Core provides a set of desired cybersecurity activities and outcomes using easy to understand, common language. It comprises five high-level functions:
Identify:
Develop an understanding of the organisation’s cybersecurity risk to systems, people, assets, data and capabilities.
Protect:
Develop and implement appropriate safeguards to ensure the delivery of critical infrastructure services.
Detect:
Develop and implement appropriate activities to identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event.
Respond:
Develop and implement appropriate activities to act regarding a detected cybersecurity event.
Recover:
Develop and implement appropriate activities to maintain plans for resilience and to restore any capabilities or services possibly impaired due to a cybersecurity event.
CSF 2.0 expands these five functions to include Govern: The organisation’s cybersecurity risk management strategy, expectations, and policy are established, communicated, and monitored.
‘Govern’ encompasses how organisations make and carry out informed decisions on cybersecurity strategy. The CSF’s new governance component emphasises that cybersecurity is a major source of enterprise risk that senior leaders should consider alongside others such as finance and reputation.
The second component comprises Framework Implementation Tiers. These tiers provide context on how an organisation views cybersecurity risk and the processes in place to manage that risk. They range from Tier 1 (Partial) to Tier 4 (Adaptive), reflecting the degree of sophistication in an organisation’s cybersecurity risk management practices.
The third element is the Framework Profile, which represents the unique alignment of the Framework Core categories and subcategories with the organisation’s business requirements, risk tolerance and resources. This customisation helps organisations align their cybersecurity activities with their specific goals, legal and regulatory requirements and industry best practices.
CSF 2.0 now includes a Reference Tool, simplifying the way organisations can implement the framework, allowing users to browse, search and export data and details from the CSF’s core guidance in both human-consumable and machine-readable formats.
Benefits of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework
There are several tangible benefits to adopting the framework, including Improved Risk Management. By following the framework, organisations can better understand and manage their cybersecurity risks.
It also enables enhanced communication, as the framework provides a common language to facilitate communication about cybersecurity risks and practices among internal and external stakeholders.
Many organisations use the framework to help them comply with various regulatory requirements and industry standards, underlining that the framework is a boon to regulatory compliance.
The NIST framework is designed to be flexible and scalable, making it applicable to organisations of all sizes and across various sectors. It also encourages organisations to continuously improve their cybersecurity posture, by regularly assessing and updating their cybersecurity practices.
In short, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 is a comprehensive guide for organisations to manage and mitigate cybersecurity risks effectively. It is widely adopted across different sectors for its practical, flexible and structured approach to cybersecurity.
For more detailed information, you can visit the NIST Cybersecurity Framework website and the NIST Cybersecurity Framework document.
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