8 Cybersecurity Framework To Reduce Risks & Improve Your Business

Cybersecurity is one of the most important issues facing businesses today. With cybercrime on the rise, businesses must take measures to protect themselves from data breaches and other security threats. This blog post will introduce you to eight cybersecurity frameworks that can help you reduce risks and improve your business. These frameworks will help you stay safe and protect your data from risk assessment to incident response.

What is a cybersecurity framework?

A cybersecurity framework is a comprehensive plan that helps organizations protect themselves from cyberattacks. A well-designed framework will help identify vulnerabilities, recommend best practices for cyber hygiene, and create an incident response plan.

There are many different cybersecurity frameworks available, but the most popular ones include the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Framework and the Critical Infrastructure Security Management System (CISMS) from the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). Both frameworks provide detailed guidance on protecting your organization’s data, systems, and infrastructure from cyberattacks.

Before implementing a cybersecurity framework, you must first identify your business’ critical assets. These assets could be data centres, banking systems, or customer information. Once you have identified your assets, you need to create a risk assessment to determine which threats pose the greatest risk to them. In addition, you should make sure your employees are trained in cyber hygiene and have procedures for responding to incidents. Finally, it would help if you created an incident response plan to ensure that your business can respond quickly and effectively to any malicious activity.

A well-designed cybersecurity framework will help reduce risks and improve your business’s security posture.

Why is the Cybersecurity framework important?

Cybersecurity frameworks can help organizations reduce risks and improve their cybersecurity posture. A framework is a set of guidelines, processes, and activities that help you manage risks. Frameworks can improve an organization’s cybersecurity posture by identifying and addressing the most common threats and vulnerabilities.

A well-developed cybersecurity framework should include the following components:

1. Identification & analysis of risk: Cybersecurity frameworks should start with an assessment of what risks your organization faces. It includes understanding your business’s mission, goals, assets, and users. Once you have identified the risks, you must develop a mitigation plan.
2. Strategy development: You must create a strategy for mitigating those risks. It involves developing specific plans for protecting your data, systems, networks, and applications from attack.
3. Monitoring & enforcement: Finally, you must monitor progress and enforce security policies when necessary. It will help keep your organization ahead of the threat landscape and protect against future attacks.

8 Cybersecurity Frameworks To Reduce Risks

When it comes to cybersecurity, individuals and businesses want to be sure they are doing everything in their power to protect themselves from potentially malicious actors. Fortunately, several cybersecurity frameworks can help reduce risks and improve business operations.

One such framework is the ISO 27001:2013 standard. This internationally recognized standard details how organizations should manage information security risk. By following the standard’s guidelines, organizations can ensure that they are taking appropriate measures to protect their data and systems from cyberattacks.

Other popular frameworks include the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and the OASIS Security Assurance Framework. Both frameworks guide how to build and maintain an effective cybersecurity program. By following these frameworks, businesses can create a plan to protect themselves against attacks and ensure continued operations in the event of a breach.

Overall, there are many different ways to reduce risks related to cybersecurity. By using one or more of the popular frameworks, businesses can put into place comprehensive plans that will help protect them from potential cyberattacks.

1. NIST Cybersecurity Framework

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has developed a cybersecurity framework to help reduce risks and improve business operations. The framework includes six pillars: risk management, information sharing, communication and collaboration, incident response, security controls, and fault management. Each pillar focuses on specific aspects of cybersecurity. Integrating these pillars into your business operations can improve your overall security posture while reducing costs associated with cyberattacks. 

Risk management is the first pillar of the NIST cybersecurity framework, which involves understanding how risks are distributed throughout your organization. You then need to assess the impact of each risk on your business operation and develop mitigation strategies to reduce its potential effect. Information sharing is the second pillar of the NIST cybersecurity framework, and it involves distributing critical information about threats and vulnerabilities across your organization. It allows you to identify potential threats and take appropriate action quickly.

Communications and collaboration are the third and fourth pillars of the NIST cybersecurity framework, respectively. They involve ensuring that employees can communicate securely with one another and work cooperatively towards common goals. Incident response is the fifth pillar of the NIST cybersecurity framework, focusing on responding to attacks promptly while protecting customer data. Security controls are the sixth pillar of the NIST cybersecurity framework, and they involve implementing measures such as firewalls, intrusion detection systems, data encryption, and authentication procedures. Fault management is the final pillar of the NIST cybersecurity framework, and it involves monitoring system performance for signs that an

2. HIPAA

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 is a federal law that regulates the privacy and security of health information. HIPAA applies to all entities that maintain electronic health records, which includes most hospitals, clinics, doctors’ offices, and other healthcare providers.

Under HIPAA, all entities must create an electronic privacy notice and implement specific security measures to protect patient data. These measures include limiting access to patient data to authorized individuals, encrypting patient data while in transit, and destroying or erasing patient data after it is no longer needed.

In addition to HIPAA’s privacy protections, the law requires healthcare providers to report incidents involving unauthorized access to or use of patients’ personal information. Healthcare providers who fail to comply with these requirements can face fines of up to $250,000 per violation.

3. COBIT

Organizations of all sizes are grappling with how to reduce the cybersecurity risks that could impact their business. One popular approach is known as COBIT.

COBIT is a framework developed by the IT industry to help organizations systematically manage their cybersecurity risks. It can be tailored to meet the specific needs of your organization, and it also includes guidelines for risk assessment, risk management, incident response and data protection.

If you’re interested in implementing COBIT in your business, here are some tips:

1. First, assess your organization’s current cybersecurity posture. It will help you identify areas that need more attention and are already well-managed. 
2. Then, create a risk management plan based on your assessment results. The plan should include procedures for assessing risks, managing those risks and monitoring progress.
3. Establish an incident response team to respond to incidents in your network or database quickly. Ensure they have the resources they need (e.g., access to networks, forensic tools), and ensure they know how to respond when something goes wrong.

4. CIS Controls

CIS Controls focus on mitigating cyber risks through various activities, such as logging activity and identifying networks and devices with unusual or suspicious behavior’s. Understanding your business’s risk profile and implementing CIS controls can reduce the likelihood of experiencing a cybersecurity incident.

1. Logging Activity: Tracking all online activity is critical for detecting and preventing malicious activity. You can track any abnormal activity by logging into your systems regularly and tracking which websites you visit. This information is to investigate any potential cyber threats or breaches.
2. Identifying Unusual or Suspicious Behavior: A common way to identify malicious behaviour is by looking for networks or devices that are behaving unusually. You can detect attempts to penetrate your network or access confidential information by monitoring system traffic. Suspicious behaviours include large amounts of traffic from unknown sources, unexpected login attempts, or unusually high CPU utilization.
3. Updating Security Measures: Implementing updated security measures helps prevent attacks from happening in the first place. By regularly updating your antivirus software, firewall policies, and other security measures, you can decrease your vulnerability to cyber threats. Additionally, installing spyware detection software helps warn you if someone is trying to steal your data undetected by malware infections on your computer system.

5. HITRUST Common Security Framework

The HITRUST Common Security Framework (CSF) is a comprehensive set of best practices for cybersecurity that organizations can adopt to reduce the risks and improve their business. The CSF provides a common framework for assessing, managing, and mitigating risk across an organization’s cybersecurity posture.

The CSF consists of five core components: risk assessment, authorization management, identification and authentication, access control, and information security governance. Each component has associated standards and implementation guidance with helping organizations implement effective protections.

The HITRUST CSF is based on the following foundational principles:

• Organizations must identify all relevant threats before they can be addressed.
• Security controls need to be tailored to the specific risks posed by each asset and user group.
• Continuous improvement is essential to maintain optimal cybersecurity protection.

6. GDPR

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is a new EU data protection regulation that came into effect on May 25, 2018. It replaces the 1995 Data Protection Directive and strengthens EU data protection rules.

Under GDPR, companies must take steps to protect the privacy of their customers and employees. These steps include:

• Requiring explicit consent for collecting, using, and sharing personal data.
• Ensuring that data is collected only when necessary and accurate and up-to-date.
• Limiting the use of cookies and other tracking technologies.
• Considering the impact of data processing on individuals’ rights and freedoms.
• Making information about data processing available to individuals who request it.
• Compliance with GDPR requires updating your company’s cybersecurity framework to reflect these changes.

Here are five cybersecurity frameworks you can use to meet GDPR requirements:

1. ISO 27001:2013 certification meets GDPR’s requirements for organizational security controls by identifying risk areas and implementing measures to reduce those risks
2. NIST SP 800-53 Juliet applies risk management principles to help organizations identify, assess, document, mitigate, detect, respond to, report, and remediate cyber incidents
3. COBIT 5 covers IT governance, including risk management
4. PEP 8 guides privacy impact assessments
5. DISA DFIR 675 covers incident response planning

7. COSO

The five fundamentals of COSO are risk assessment, risk management, control functions, performance audit and disclosure.

1. Risk assessment is the first step in managing risks and involves evaluating the potential impacts of potential threats on your business.
2. Risk management involves identifying and addressing risks before they become problems. It includes establishing policies and procedures to help identify, assess and manage risks.
3. Control functions help manage risks effectively by monitoring activities and ensuring that goals are met. They include things like process improvement and documentation/recordkeeping.
4. Performance audit helps determine whether risks have been properly managed and controls are effective. It also provides feedback to managers on how they can improve their practices.
5. Disclosure is a key part of transparency, one of COSO’s fundamental principles. It involves informing all stakeholders about risks so they can make informed decisions about how to protect themselves

8. FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act)

Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) is a United States federal law establishing overall cybersecurity policy for government agencies. FISMA imposes requirements on federal agencies to protect their information systems from unauthorized access, use, disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

FISMA authorizes the Director of National Intelligence to establish standards for protecting national security information. The act also places requirements on private sector organizations that store or process sensitive customer information.

To comply with FISMA, one must develop and implement an organized cybersecurity program that includes risk assessment and mitigation strategies. It will help protect your business from cyberattacks and data breaches. Additionally, effective cybersecurity frameworks should include the following: 

1. An incident response plan that can quickly identify and isolate breaches so they can be contained and fixed; 
2. A secure network architecture that protects against malware and other online threats; 
3. Regular compliance audits to ensure your system is up-to-date with current best practices; 
4. Training for employees on responsible cyber hygiene and how to report suspicious activity; 
5. Data backup and recovery procedures in case of a breach.