Here are tips you can follow to comply with the NIST cybersecurity standards.
What is the Role of NIST Cybersecurity Standards?
These standards provide guidelines for businesses and organizations to develop plans to protect their infrastructure from cyberattacks. It also details how to detect any security gaps in your system and plan for contingencies.
How to Comply with the NIST Cybersecurity Standards?
Here are some tips that can help you comply with these cybersecurity standards:
Make sure that your computer systems are patched and updated often.
To comply, set regular updates on your computer systems. By doing so, you can ensure that your systems are up to date with the latest software updates.
Ensure that your computer systems have firewalls in place.
Firewalls or network security is one of the most important components in your system’s protection against cyberattacks. To ensure good protection, make sure that you regularly update your firewall’s software and configurations.
Additionally, you must set the rules for the firewall appropriately. For instance, you can set up rules that will allow only specific IP addresses or domains to access your network. That way, you can be sure that unauthorized users cannot gain access to your system.
Use strong passwords for your computer systems and accounts.
Make sure that you use strong passwords for your computer systems and accounts. These passwords should have at least 8 characters in length and contain both uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.
Moreover, make sure that they also do not contain any sensitive information like your name, birth date, phone number, or real email address. Aside from having strong passwords, it is also important to change them often to prevent cybercriminals from gaining access to your account.
Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all user accounts with sensitive data access requirements.
Multi-factor authentication is the use of multiple methods for identifying an individual or granting access to an account or resource. It is best for all user accounts with sensitive data access requirements because it prevents unauthorized users from accessing your system easily even if they gain access to your username and password due to social engineering techniques like phishing attacks.
In addition, some MFA methods include using a token device like a smart card or SMS messages. These are sent to a mobile phone that only the account holder has access to. It is essential to regularly review all user accounts with MFA enabled because their access should be revoked if the user leaves the company or no longer needs access to certain accounts or resources within the system.
Lastly, ensure that you have a plan in place to recover from attacks.
You will need to have a plan in place to recover from attacks. If an attack does occur, you can mitigate risks and minimize damage to your systems by having a proper plan. That way, your company can be back up and running as soon as possible and prevent any potential losses or disruption of operations.