In cybersecurity, CIS Controls offers a robust framework for safeguarding your organization against potential cyber threats. Established by the Center for Internet Security, these controls represent a comprehensive set of best practices designed to bolster your organization's defense systems. They enable you to navigate the complex cybersecurity landscape and effectively meet industry regulations.
Your journey into implementing the CIS Controls is a proactive step towards mitigating risks posed by numerous attack vectors that threaten technology and information assets daily. The controls are meticulously organized to prioritize actions, giving you a clear path for strengthening security to align with your organization's needs. By adopting CIS Controls, you integrate industry-recognized guidelines into your security strategy, significantly enhancing your organization's resilience to cyber incidents.
Understanding CIS Security Controls
When you want to enhance your organization's cybersecurity measures, the CIS Critical Security Controls offer a vital, robust framework for strengthening your security posture and ensuring compliance with various regulations.
CIS Critical Security Controls are a set of prioritized, well-vetted, and effective defensive actions that you can take to prevent the most common cyberattacks. The framework consists of 18 controls, ranging from basic to organizational. These controls help you with various tasks, such as asset inventory and control, secure configuration management, vulnerability assessment, and incident response.
IT security experts worldwide developed the CIS Critical Security Controls, applying their practical experience to create these guidelines. Over time, the controls have evolved in response to new threats, changing technologies, and updated best practices. They shifted from a strictly compliance focus to a more comprehensive cyber defense strategy.
CIS Controls are crucial for establishing a strong security posture. They serve as the foundation for numerous cybersecurity frameworks and regulations. Adherence to these controls may help thwart attacks and meet compliance requirements for frameworks such as NIST, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS, which govern data protection and privacy.
Listing the CIS Critical Security Controls
The CIS Critical Security Controls are actionable practices designed to stop the most pervasive and dangerous threats. They provide a roadmap for securing your information systems effectively. Let’s look at the main CIS Controls, along with some extras.
Inventory and Control of Hardware Assets
To protect your organization, you must actively manage all hardware devices so that only authorized devices have network access. Ensure that unauthorized and unmanaged devices are found and prevented from gaining access.
Inventory and Control of Software Assets
Software Assets should be inventoried and managed. Unauthorized software should be prevented from installation or execution, reducing the risk of unpatched or unsafe applications running on your network.
Continuous Vulnerability Management
Your organization must regularly acquire, assess, and act on information about new vulnerabilities. This proactive approach helps identify and remediate vulnerabilities before they are exploited.
Controlled Use of Administrative Privileges
Track, control, and correct the use of administrative privileges on computers, networks, and applications to minimize unauthorized access or operations that can lead to potential security breaches.
Secure Configuration for Hardware and Software
Establish, implement, and manage the security configuration of all your devices to form a strong baseline defense against cyber-attacks.
Maintenance, Monitoring, and Analysis of Audit Logs
Consistent review, management, and analysis of audit logs improve your awareness and response to unusual activities that could signify a cyber threat.
Email and Web Browser Protections
Implement measures to minimize the attack surface and the opportunity for attackers to manipulate human behavior through email and web browsers.
Malware Defenses
To protect your system against malicious software, antivirus, and other malware defenses must be actively managed and updated on all devices.
Limitation and Control of Network Ports
Control the flow of information through network ports, protocols, and services to reduce windows of vulnerability available to attackers.
Data Recovery Capabilities
To minimize downtime and the impact of any data loss event, regularly test your data's ability to be reliably recovered from backups.
Secure Configuration for Network Devices
Your routers, firewalls, and switches should be strictly configured to prevent attackers from exploiting vulnerable network services and settings.
Boundary Defense
Detect and filter out unauthorized access and exfiltration efforts by employing boundary defense mechanisms like firewalls, proxies, and intrusion detection systems.
Data Protection
Safeguard sensitive data through encryption, access controls, and data integrity practices to prevent data breaches, unauthorized alterations, and exfiltration.
Controlled Access Based on the Need to Know
Restrict access to sensitive information by enforcing a “need-to-know” basis, ensuring that only authorized individuals access critical data.
Wireless Access Control
Wireless networks and devices must be managed tightly. Unsecured wireless access can provide an easy entry point for malicious actors.
Account Monitoring and Control
Actively manage user accounts, monitoring for abnormal use patterns that can indicate a potential compromise of these credentials.
Security Skills Assessment and Appropriate Training to Fill Gaps
Assess your team's security skills and provide targeted training to address any gaps that can strengthen your overall security posture.
Application Software Security
Develop and maintain cloud-based security practices for developing and acquiring applications to protect them against potential threats throughout their lifecycle.
Incident Response and Management Security
Prepare and implement an incident response plan. Fast and efficient response to a cybersecurity incident can limit damage and reduce recovery time and costs.
Penetration Tests and Red Team Exercises
Conduct regular tests and simulations to evaluate the effectiveness of your security measures and identify potential improvements in your defense strategy.
The Impact of Implementing CIS Security Controls
When you implement CIS Security Controls, you adopt a set of technical best practices and align with frameworks that contribute to robust cybersecurity posture and compliance.
Case Studies on Organizations Benefiting from Implementing CIS Security Controls
Several organizations have reinforced their defense against cyber threats by integrating CIS Security Controls. For instance, a healthcare provider adhering to HIPAA requirements significantly reduced the risk of data breaches by implementing these controls for better cyber threat monitoring.
This enhanced their cyber hygiene practices and ensured the protection of sensitive information. Similarly, a retail company, under the PCI DSS mandate, found that by rigorously applying the controls, they could streamline compliance efforts while bolstering cardholder data security.
CIS Controls are meticulously mapped to various security standards (including NIST framework), enabling a structured approach to detect potential vulnerabilities. You can systematically mitigate risks and respond swiftly to incidents by prioritizing controls.
For example, through the diligent application of these controls, an enterprise can improve privacy and terms of use compliance, thus establishing trust in handling customer information and adherence to applicable legal and policy frameworks.
Challenges of Implementing CIS Security Controls
Implementing CIS Security Controls often includes overcoming some roadblocks.
Implementing the frameworks provided by the CIS Controls can be a daunting task. The initial inventory and control of software assets may prove extensive, demanding a meticulous cataloging of digital resources. You may need help distinguishing between essential software and redundant applications, impeding the development of a comprehensive asset inventory.
Another potential challenge is aligning the CIS Benchmarks in cloud security. These are consensus-based guides crafted to secure your systems against pervasive cyber threats. However, tailoring these benchmarks to your unique environment can be time-consuming.
The complexity of deploying CIS-CAT Pro, a tool meant to assess conformance to CIS Benchmarks, must not be underestimated. It requires a certain level of expertise to interpret the results accurately and implement the recommended changes effectively.
The dynamic nature of cyber threats may outpace the incident response capabilities structured around the CIS Controls. Adapting to rapid changes in the threat landscape remains a persistent challenge.
Lastly, the CIS Controls Navigator offers a structured way to approach these controls but integrating this into your organization's workflow often requires significant changes to existing processes.
If you’re ready to implement the many CIS Controls for your business, RiskRecon by Mastercard can help. Contact us today, and we'll be happy to assist you!
