What is the NIST Cybersecurity Framework?

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) is a tool developed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to inform companies about how to design an effective cybersecurity program.

In February 2024, NIST published a new major version of the framework designed to update its recommendations and expand its scope to support organizations of all types. This version included new guidance and additional resources designed to help companies create and improve their cybersecurity programs.

NIST Buyer's Guide Security Controls Gap Analysis

Why Implement NIST Compliance?

The NIST CSF is the only required cybersecurity standard in the public sector, including government agencies and some parts of the federal supply chain. However, private sector organizations can also benefit from complying with the framework.

One of the biggest benefits of the NIST CSF is that it provides a comprehensive, accessible guide to implementing a corporate cybersecurity program. Organizations that implement full NIST compliance are likely to also be mostly or fully compliant with other, required regulations and standards.

They can also take advantage of cross-mappings between NIST and other frameworks to demonstrate this compliance and identify any other required controls to implement.

The Core Components of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework

The NIST CSF is organized into a set of core functions. In the February 2024 update to version 2.0 of the CSF, NIST added a new core function, Govern.

The full set of core functions includes the following:

Govern: The Govern function describes how the organization should have an established cybersecurity risk management strategy, expectations, and policy.
Identify: The Identify function focuses on identifying and understanding the cybersecurity risks to the organization.
Protect: The Protect function specifies that the organization should have security controls in place to manage identified cybersecurity risks.
Detect: The Detect function describes how the organization should find and analyze potential cyber attacks and breaches.
Respond: The Respond function describes how the company should address a detected cybersecurity incident.
Recover: The Recover function details processes for the organization to restore normal operations after a cybersecurity incident.

The NIST CSF organizes core functions 2-6 as a continuous wheel, with the Govern function spanning all of them. Below these core functions are numerous categories and subcategories that provide more detailed guidance on how to achieve these goals.

Implementation of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework

One of the primary goals of the update to NIST CSF version 2.0 was to make the CSF more accessible and easy to implement. Some examples of these include

Implementation Examples: Implementation examples provide examples of how an organization may go about implementing the processes or controls described by a particular subcategory in the NIST CSF.
Quick-Start Guides (QSGs): NIST’s QSGs provide “first steps” for organizations to implement a particular part of the CSF.

Companies looking to implement the NIST CSF should take the following steps:

Perform a Gap Analysis: An organization is likely to have some aspects of the CSF already in place, while others will still need to be implemented. Performing a gap analysis helps the business to determine where its current security program is falling short and where it needs to focus its cybersecurity efforts.
Select an Area to Improve: Based on the gap analysis, the organization can identify an area where its existing controls are the weakest or the furthest from the standard. Focusing efforts there speeds up time to value by fixing the biggest gaps first.
Use NIST Resources: NIST’s implementation examples and QSGs are designed to help an organization create or refine a part of its security program. Use these tools to see how to implement a compliant security architecture in your business environment.
Monitor and Review: Corporate IT architecture and security requirements change over time, and security controls may not work on the first try. Ongoing monitoring and regular reviews are essential to maintaining compliance.
Iterate and Repeat: After addressing the most pressing deficiency in a corporate cybersecurity program, work on the next biggest.

How Check Point Can Help with NIST Compliance

Mapping regulatory requirements to real-world implementations can be a challenging prospect. While the NIST CSF provides various resources to aid the implementation process, a combination of security and regulatory knowledge and expertise is required to design and deploy a cybersecurity architecture that is both effective and compliant.

Check Point Infinity Global Services offers a range of security services, including those designed to support an organization’s NIST CSF compliance efforts.

In a NIST Control-Based Assessment, a cybersecurity team performs a comprehensive, on-site assessment of an organization’s security controls and compares them to NIST requirements. Based on this analysis, the team identifies potential compliance gaps and how the organization can enhance its NIST compliance.