In cybersecurity, risk management is a critical process that helps organizations identify, assess, and mitigate potential threats to their digital assets. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), a non-regulatory federal agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce, has developed two comprehensive frameworks to guide organizations in managing their security and privacy risks: the Risk Management Framework (RMF) and the Cybersecurity Framework (CSF). Both frameworks are centered around the concept of security controls, which are safeguards or countermeasures designed to avoid, counteract, or minimize security risks.
NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF)
The RMF is a structured, flexible, and risk-based approach that integrates security, privacy, and cyber supply chain risk management activities into the system development life cycle. It provides a disciplined and structured process that integrates information security and risk management activities into the system development life cycle.
Prepare
The RMF journey begins with the Prepare step. This is where the organization identifies key risk management roles and establishes an organizational risk management strategy. The organization also determines its risk tolerance and conducts an organization-wide risk assessment. This step is crucial for identifying what security controls will be needed to manage the identified risks. It sets the stage for the organization to manage its security and privacy risks using the RMF.
Categorize
The Categorize step involves determining the potential impact of a loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability on the systems and the information they process, store, and transmit. This step informs the selection of security controls by aligning them with the identified risks. It's about understanding the systems and the potential impact if these systems were compromised.
Select
The Select step involves choosing, tailoring, and documenting the necessary security controls to protect the system and organization commensurate with the identified risks. The controls are designated as system-specific, hybrid, or common, and are allocated to specific system components. A system-level continuous monitoring strategy is also developed at this stage. This step ensures that the right controls are selected to mitigate the risks identified in the previous steps.
Implement
During the Implement step, the selected controls are put into place as per the security plans for the system and organization. The security plans are then updated to reflect the controls as they have been implemented. This step is about putting the plan into action and ensuring that the selected controls are properly implemented.
Assess
The Assess step involves determining if the implemented controls are functioning correctly, operating as intended, and producing the desired outcome in terms of meeting the security and privacy requirements for the system and organization. This step is crucial for validating the effectiveness of the security controls and identifying any deficiencies that need to be addressed. It's about checking if the implemented controls are working as intended.
Authorize
The Authorize step provides accountability by requiring a senior official to determine if the security and privacy risk, based on the operation of a system or the use of common controls, is acceptable. This step involves the creation of an authorization package, which includes an executive summary, system security and privacy plan, assessment reports, and a plan of action and milestones. It's about making a risk-based decision on whether to authorize the system to operate.
Monitor
The final step, Monitor, involves maintaining ongoing situational awareness about the security and privacy posture of the system and organization. This step is crucial for identifying any security-relevant changes that might affect the effectiveness of the security controls and for making informed risk management decisions. It's about keeping an eye on the system and the controls to ensure they continue to be effective.
NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF)
The CSF, while separate from the RMF, complements it by providing a set of industry standards and best practices to help organizations manage their cybersecurity risks. Like the RMF, the CSF is centered around security controls, but it organizes these controls into five core functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover.
Identify
The Identify function is about understanding the cybersecurity risks to the organization's systems, assets, data, and capabilities. This involves identifying what systems and data the organization has, what its cybersecurity risks are, and what controls are needed to manage those risks. This function helps the organization develop an organizational understanding to manage cybersecurity risk to systems, assets, data, and capabilities.
Protect
The Protect function involves implementing the necessary safeguards to ensure delivery of critical infrastructure services. This includes controls that limit or contain the impact of a potential cybersecurity event. Examples of controls in this function include access control, awareness and training, data security, information protection processes and procedures, maintenance, and protective technology.
Detect
The Detect function involves implementing the appropriate activities to identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event. The controls in this function help the organization to detect anomalous activity and understand the potential impact of events. This includes continuous monitoring and detection processes to quickly identify threats and anomalies.
Respond
The Respond function involves taking action regarding a detected cybersecurity incident. The goal is to contain the impact of the event. The controls in this function support the ability to contain the impact of a potential cybersecurity incident. Examples include response planning, communications, analysis, mitigation, and improvements.
Recover
The Recover function involves maintaining plans for resilience and to restore any capabilities or services that were impaired due to a cybersecurity incident. The controls in this function support timely recovery to normal operations to reduce the impact from a cybersecurity incident. This includes recovery planning, improvements, and communications.
Conclusion
Both the NIST RMF and CSF provide a comprehensive and structured approach to managing security and privacy risks in an organization. At their heart, they're all about security controls. From the initial identification of what controls are needed, through to the continuous monitoring of these controls for security-relevant changes, these frameworks provide a comprehensive approach to risk management. By focusing on these controls, organizations can effectively manage their cybersecurity risks and ensure the ongoing security and privacy of their systems and data.