Page 72 - Cyber Defense eMagazine Annual RSA Edition for 2024

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) at the U.S. Department of Commerce, also
has many recommendations for fostering cyber resilience in an organisation. The NIST Cybersecurity
framework 2.0 presents six core functions – designed to organise cybersecurity outcomes at their highest
level:

Govern: Ensure your organisation’s cybersecurity risk management strategy, expectations, and policy
are established, communicated, and monitored. This includes understanding and assessing specific
cybersecurity needs and implementing continuous oversight and checkpoints.

Identify: Account for and understand all current cybersecurity risks to your organisation. Find and
document the main processes and assets that are essential for daily operations, all computers and
software your organisation uses, what information is gathered and where it’s stored and possible threats
and weaknesses.

Protect: Employ safeguards to manage your organization’s cybersecurity risks. This could incorporate a
range of simple steps, from managing user access to resources and providing employees with
cybersecurity training to the use of endpoint security products and data encryption.

Detect: Make sure possible cybersecurity attacks and compromises are found and analysed. Implement
procedures for detecting indicators of a cybersecurity incident on both the network and in the physical
environment. If an attack is detected, your organisation should work quickly to understand the impact and
alert authorised staff and tools.

Respond: Take swift action following a cybersecurity incident. Once an incident is declared, execute
your response plan, taking care to ensure that everyone knows their responsibilities. Analyse what has
taken place, determine the root cause and prioritise the most pressing issues. While containing and
eradicating an incident, safely collect relevant data to inform future response plans.

Recover: Ensure all assets and operations affected by a cybersecurity incident are restored. After an
attack, clarify who, within and outside your organisation, has recovery responsibilities before beginning
recovery efforts. Ensure all affected systems and services are operational, double checking all work
before resuming regular operations. It’s crucial to communicate with internal and external stakeholders
throughout this process, carefully accounting relevant information and learnings.

As with all digital transformation projects, it will take time to begin to put the various policy and
technological conditions in place to start building up your organisation’s cyber resilience and building a
cyber resilience culture from within.

However, it’s crucial you get a move on today – start having conversations with your IT team and look to
partners with experience in fostering cyber resilience within organisations.
Because, in a hyperconnected world where digital disruptions can range from minor inconveniences to
catastrophic breaches, cyber resilience is the strategic armour that ensures an organisation's ability to
not just survive but thrive in the digital landscape.

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