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Cyber Security Framework: Types, Benefits, and Best Practices
Nowadays, safeguarding precious data from cybercriminals has never been so essential in this modern world. An organization has vast data, and it is challenging to manage all that without a structured plan. Any organization's IT professionals cannot do it on their own. Hence, they rely on something called Cyber Security Framework. We will discuss many of these Cyber Security Frameworks here, and you'll walk away knowing all the core concepts of these frameworks.
What is a Cyber Security Framework?
These documents describe guidelines, standards, and best practices for cyber security risk management. These frameworks reduce an organization's exposure to weaknesses and vulnerabilities that cybercriminals can exploit.
The word 'Framework' may seem like it is referred to some hardware, but it is not. It is, as mentioned before, a document. This document gives us information that deals with the infrastructure of servers, data storage, etc.
It is more like a structure, whereas we see the building standing tall in real life. It's all due to a solid system. But, when it comes to cyber security, the Cyber Security Framework is there to provide the foundation strength the servers need to be protected from cyberattacks.
Types of Security Frameworks
There are mainly three types of frameworks. Each of the types has its different functions. Those three types are −
Control Frameworks − This framework is known to develop an essential strategy for the cyber security department of an organization. Along with this, it provides an array of security controls, understands the present state of the technology being used, and ensures that these security controls are implemented second to none.
Program Frameworks − This framework analyses the state of the organization's security program. This also helps develop a customized cybersecurity program, measures the program's security, and goes through competitive analysis. Along with this, it also simplifies the communication between the cyber security team and the managers.
Risk Frameworks − These frameworks suggest essential risk assessment and management processes. It helps in structuring a security program, identifying and measuring an organization's security risks, and prioritizing security measures and activities.
What is the best Cyber Security Framework out there?
When we must pick one framework for the organization, it can be very tough. There are many frameworks out there, and it's a tough job to test each one out and figure out the best one. So, we have put together the names of some of the best frameworks. The choice also depends a lot on the needs of the organization. So, there are some frameworks −
The NIST Cyber Security Framework: The NIST is a set of security standards that many private companies and organizations can use to identify and respond to cyberattacks. This framework has guidelines to help organizations prevent and recover from such cyberattacks. NIST has five functions: Identity, Protect, Detect, Respond and Recover.
The International Standards Framework (ISO): This is also known as the ISO 270K framework. It is considered the cyber security validation standard for both internal situations and across third parties. ISO 270K assumes that the organization has an Information Security management system. ISO/IEC 27001 requires management to exhaustively manage all the information security risks and to stay alert to threats and vulnerabilities. This can be inferred that the ISO framework is very demanding and requires a lot of hard work to maintain everything perfectly. This framework recommends about 114 different controls broken into 14 categories. If the ISO framework is implemented in an organization, then it will be a selling point for new customers. It is worth it!
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act: HIPAA provides a framework to manage confidential patient and consumer data, mainly privacy issues. This framework offers electronic healthcare information and is a must for healthcare providers, insurers, and clearinghouses.
The Centre for Internet Security Critical Security Controls: Better known as CIS, this framework is ideal for start-ups that generally start slow and work their way to the top. Developed this framework back in October 2000. It was made to protect companies from various cyberattacks. It consists of only 20 controls regularly being updated by security professionals from academia, government, and industry. This framework starts from the basics, moves to some critical basic foundations, and finishes with some organization. This framework uses benchmarks based on common standards such as HIPAA or NIST that map security standards and offer different configurations for organizations to improve cyber security.
Some honorable mentions −
SOC2(Service Organization Control)
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
FISMA (Federal Information Systems Management Act)
NERC-CIP (North American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure Protection
PCI-DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards)
COBIT (Control Objectives for Information and Related Technologies)
COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations)
Why do we need Cyber Security Frameworks?
Cyber Security networks are needed in every organization because setting up one secures many data from cyberattacks. It also removes some guesswork when it comes to securing assets. Frameworks provide a plan to the cyber security managers and give them a systematic plan for acting in different scenarios. Along with the plans, frameworks guide IT and security leaders to manage their organization's risks more intelligently.
Companies can adjust the existing framework to meet their needs and requirements or even create their custom framework. Custom frameworks can be challenging as some businesses must adopt security frameworks that comply with commercial or government regulations. Custom-made frameworks may be insufficient to meet the standards to secure a network against dangerous cyber threats.
All in all, Cyber Security frameworks are needed by all companies and organizations, no matter if the company is big or small. In the future, there will be even more advanced frameworks.
Thank you for reading this article! It was a pleasure discussing this topic with everyone!
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