What are the 6 steps for implementing the NIST cybersecurity framework? Read this article to find out.
6 Steps for Implementing the NIST Cybersecurity Framework
Set your goals.
The first step before using the NIST Framework is to establish your own organizational goals. Your goals will also serve as a guide to help you determine where the framework can be applied, what the framework needs to include, and what steps you should take to achieve them.
Understand your risks.
The second step is to understand your risks. This works by performing a risk assessment. Be sure to identify all of your organization’s assets, including technical, physical, and human assets.
Then, assign value or importance to each one. So, you can assess how vulnerable they are if they were attacked or damaged. Finally, identify and prioritize vulnerabilities.
Establish your baseline.
This step involves establishing your organization’s profile by identifying the current state of your cybersecurity. You can do so by identifying your existing policies, procedures, standards, guidelines, and metrics.
Determine where you stand about the goals and standards that you set in the first step.
You can do this by comparing your current cybersecurity profile with your goals and standards. You can also ask for the help of an independent party to assess your organization’s current state. So, you can create a comprehensive report.
Implement the Framework
Now that you have established your profile of where you stand, you can begin to implement the framework.
The NIST Framework is also divided into six stages: identify; protect; detect; respond; recover; and learn. Each stage also includes several tasks to perform and sub-tasks within each task to help guide you through the process.
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework’s six stages are divided into 12 tasks, which are described below:
1: Identify the organization’s cybersecurity profile (organizational goals, risk assessment, and cybersecurity profile)
2: Protect the organization from cyberthreats (risk-management strategy, security policies, standards, procedures, and guidelines)
3: Detect cybersecurity events (incident detection, security monitoring, and analysis)
4: Respond to detected incidents (incident response)
5: Recover from an incident (business continuity management)
6: Learn from an incident (incident analysis and reporting)
Verify Your Success
The last step is to verify your success. This works by performing a risk assessment that focuses on the threats to your organization’s cybersecurity posture. This assessment will also help you revisit each of your goals, and determine if you achieved them.
How Cybersecurity Framework Helps
This framework was developed in collaboration with the private sector, government, and other standards bodies. The framework builds on the risk management activities described in the committee’s risk management report.
The framework also helps agencies identify areas where they may be vulnerable to cyber threats. So, they can figure out how their risk management procedures can help them reduce these vulnerabilities.
Wrapping Up
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is also a way for all organizations to identify their cybersecurity risks, and improve their cybersecurity posture. It is a particularly useful framework for small-to-medium-sized organizations that do not have the resources to hire full-time cybersecurity experts.
Do you think this framework is effective? Let us know in the comments.
