NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) Assessments

NIST CSF Assessment

Cybersecurity attacks aren’t going away. They’re continuing to rise in both sheer numbers and sophistication, and organizations of all sizes are being targeted. It’s no longer a matter of if; rather it’s when.

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) was developed through collaboration of government and industry to help organizations, in any sector or community, better manage and reduce their cybersecurity risk. Since the CSF is a flexible framework, organizations can utilize it to identify relevant cybersecurity risks and prioritize investments to maximize risk reduction.

 The prioritized, flexible, repeatable, and cost-effective NIST CSF assessment completed by 360 Advanced helps organizations create and manage cybersecurity-related risk through a widely accepted and customizable lifecycle.

The NIST CSF Assessment facilitated by 360 Advanced helps organizations to better understand, manage, and reduce their cybersecurity risks. As a result of the assessment, risks and actionable activities are identified and are prioritized to reduce the impact on critical operations and service delivery of a cybersecurity attack. In turn, organizations maximize the impact of each dollar invested in cybersecurity through improved communications, awareness, and understanding amongst IT, operating units, as well as senior executives of the organization. In addition to improved internal communications, organizations can also readily use the results of our assessment to communicate current or desired cybersecurity posture with outside entities.

360 Advanced CSF assessments provide organizations with actionable and informative deliverables, including assignment of maturity levels to each of the subcategories, categories, and functions of the NIST CSF, determination of the risk management implementation tier that has been attained, identified gaps that fall short of meeting the intent of the informative references, recommended remediations and prioritization, and a road map for alignment with the NIST CSF.

Framework Implementation Tiers

Tiers describe the degree to which an organization’s cybersecurity risk management practices exhibit the characteristics defined in the Framework. The Tiers range from Partial (Tier 1) to Adaptive (Tier 4) and describe an increasing degree of rigor, and how well integrated cybersecurity risk decisions are into broader risk decisions, and the degree to which the organization shares and receives cybersecurity info from external parties.

Cybersecurity Framework Tiers

Source: NIST

Tiers do not necessarily represent maturity levels. Organizations should determine the desired Tier, ensuring that the selected level meets organizational goals, reduces cybersecurity risk to levels acceptable to the organization, and is feasible to implement, fiscally and otherwise.

NIST CSF profiles allow organizations to map their efforts to the framework’s core functions. Organizations can use profiles to identify opportunities for improvement by comparing their current profile to a desired “target” profile.

Obtaining Proof of NIST Compliance

Unlike other NIST standards, the NIST CSF is not a formal certification or accreditation program. Federal contracts and RFPs often require organizations to “self-certify” or attest that they are in compliance with the NIST cyber risk management framework. However, third-party validation of an organization’s controls can provide an additional level of assurance.

NIST Assessments as Part of an Integrated Compliance Initiative

360 Advanced delivers an integrated approach to cybersecurity and compliance solutions. That means that the services and solutions we provide are designed to address both cybersecurity and compliance requirements in a coordinated and unified manner.

An integrated approach offers:

• Comprehensive protection and a streamlined process
• A holistic understanding of an organization’s risk landscape by assessing security and compliance risks together
• A high level of data protection by incorporating security measures that go beyond compliance checkboxes

We can integrate NIST 800-53 and NIST 800-171 assessments with your other privacy, security, and information management initiatives. We can integrate your NIST CSF assessments with ISO certification efforts, FISMA certification efforts, DFARS (Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement) compliance initiatives, and DOD CMMC (Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification) initiatives. We can also integrate your NIST compliance efforts with healthcare-specific assessments, such as HIPAA and HITRUST, or other general security initiatives, such as SOC 1 or SOC 2 examinations.

Our integrated approach streamlines the process for your entire team, allowing you to reduce duplicative requests and interviews and lowering your overall cost of compliance. Our fixed-fee model lets you focus on your business, while allowing our team to provide unlimited support and guidance along the way.