What Is the National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework?

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In 2014, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) developed what is known as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. This framework helps the private sector and businesses of all types have now adopted it for their own benefit.

Functions of NIST Cybersecurity Framework

Within the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, all actions fall into five main categories:

Identify: This function is the foundation of the cybersecurity framework. Learn to identify the risks related to operations, assets, and resources and create a risk management strategy.
Protect: Protection focuses on the procedures you’ll use to prevent attacks and keep critical functions operating. Establishing data protection programs and training staff on security threats are vital in this step.
Detect: This function involves the actions you take to detect cybersecurity risks. You implement the appropriate measures to ensure that your team or programs can identify events.
Respond: With this step, you’ll focus on how your team responds to a detected risk. Aspects include following your response plans, event analysis, and developing improvements.
Recover: These steps are about how to get compromised systems running again. Recovery includes determining how you’ll change your setup to increase security in the future.

Benefits of NIST Risk Management Framework

Implementing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides several benefits for your business. It’s a plan with clearly defined steps that you can tailor to meet your needs. Understand and respond to risks in an organized manner with the NIST Framework. The benefits of incorporating this program into your business to avoid costly cybersecurity breaches outweigh the initial price tag.

How to Implement NIST Cybersecurity Framework

Before implementing the NIST Framework, you should examine the assets and protections you already have. Determine areas where you need improvement. We suggest starting with the “Identify” foundational step. You can work through the functions above and repeat steps as needed.

You can follow NIST Cybersecurity Implementation Tiers to make this process simpler. There are a total of four tiers:

Partial
Risk-Informed
Repeatable
Adaptive

Frequently Asked Questions About NIST Cybersecurity Framework

Here are some of the most frequently asked questions about the NIST Cybersecurity Framework:

Is the NIST Cybersecurity Framework a requirement for my organization? The framework is voluntary.
Who can use the NIST Cybersecurity Framework? Any business in the private or public sector can implement the NIST Framework.
Should my company use the NIST Framework if we already have a cybersecurity program? You can still implement the framework even if you already have cybersecurity measures.