Who is NIST CSF For?

NIST CSF is designed for organizations of all sizes, sectors, and cybersecurity maturity levels. It is particularly beneficial for:

• Critical infrastructure organizations, such as utilities, finance, healthcare, and transportation.
• Small to medium-sized businesses looking for a structured approach to cybersecurity.
• Large enterprises seeking to enhance their cybersecurity posture and compliance efforts.
• Government agencies aiming to standardize their cybersecurity practices.
• Educational institutions and nonprofits wanting to protect sensitive information.

NIST CSF Controls

The NIST CSF is structured around five core functions, each comprising specific categories and subcategories of cybersecurity controls.

Identify

• Asset Management: Inventory and manage organizational assets.
• Business Environment: Understand the organization’s role in the supply chain and its dependencies.
• Governance: Establish cybersecurity policies and procedures.
• Risk Assessment: Identify and assess cybersecurity risks.
• Risk Management Strategy: Define risk tolerance and management strategies.

Protect

• Access Control: Manage access to assets and information.
• Awareness and Training: Educate staff on cybersecurity practices.
• Data Security: Protect organizational data through appropriate measures.
• Information Protection Processes and Procedures: Implement policies and procedures to protect information.
• Maintenance: Perform maintenance and repairs on information systems.
• Protective Technology: Deploy technologies to secure information systems.

Detect

• Anomalies and Events: Detect and respond to cybersecurity events.
• Security Continuous Monitoring: Continuously monitor information systems for security threats.
• Detection Processes: Implement and maintain detection processes.

Respond

• Response Planning: Develop and implement response plans.
• Communications: Coordinate communications during and after a cybersecurity event.
• Analysis: Analyze the impact and scope of cybersecurity events.
• Mitigation: Contain and mitigate cybersecurity events.
• Improvements: Update response plans and procedures based on lessons learned.

Recover

• Recovery Planning: Develop and implement recovery plans.
• Improvements: Update recovery plans based on lessons learned.
• Communications: Coordinate communications during recovery efforts.

Framework Tiers

NIST CSF introduces four implementation tiers, which describe the degree to which an organization’s cybersecurity risk management practices exhibit the characteristics defined in the framework. These tiers help organizations evaluate their current cybersecurity practices and identify areas for improvement.

Tier 1: Partial

• Risk management is not formalized.
• Limited awareness of cybersecurity risk at the organizational level.

Tier 2: Risk-Informed

• Risk management practices are approved by management but not established organization-wide.
• Cybersecurity risk management is an informal, ad hoc process.

Tier 3: Repeatable

• Risk management practices are formally approved and established.
• Policies, processes, and procedures are documented and communicated.

Tier 4: Adaptive

• Risk management practices are continuously improved and integrated into the organizational culture.
• Proactive adaptation to changing cybersecurity threats and technologies.

NIST CSF Profiles

Profiles are a way to align cybersecurity activities with business requirements, risk tolerance, and resources. A NIST CSF profile represents the current or desired state of an organization’s cybersecurity posture. It is created by selecting specific subcategories of the framework that best address the organization’s needs and goals. There are two types of profiles:

• Current Profile: Represents the current state of cybersecurity activities and risk management practices.
• Target Profile: Describes the desired state of cybersecurity activities and risk management practices. It is used to identify gaps and develop a roadmap for improvement.

By leveraging profiles, organizations can tailor the NIST CSF to their specific context, enabling them to prioritize and allocate resources more effectively.