Risk management information systems (RMISs) are computerized systems designed to streamline and automate processes involved with collecting and reporting information while assuring its relevance, accuracy, and security controls.
What is the NIST RMF?
The NIST RMF is a six-step process designed to identify and mitigate information security risks in information systems. It outlines best practices and procedures federal agencies should follow when designing new data security processes while suggesting steps necessary for their successful implementation.
As part of their process, teams should be equipped to identify risks and prioritize them accordingly. Documenting risk assessments to demonstrate an organization's cybersecurity risk profile allows teams to better understand how much tolerance senior management is willing to accept for particular exposures; and allows other teams within it to see where their specific areas of responsibility fit within it.
Common Principles of NIST
The NIST RMF encourages and outlines cybersecurity best practices, providing enterprises of all sizes with a standardized way of cyber preparedness. The NIST risk management framework helps them build resilient infrastructure to reduce cyberattack impact while NIST also works closely with industry leaders to raise awareness about its benefits.
NIST (The National Institute of Standards and Technology) provides guidance for implementing its RMF through NIST Special Publications 800-37 and 800-53. Each step in their RMF - categorize/identify, select, implement, assess, authorize, and monitor - can be found within either of these publications.
NIST Risk Management Framework Steps
Step 1: Set Organizational Goals
The first step of the NIST management framework is setting organizational goals for your data security, which can help organize your steps, establish the scope for cybersecurity efforts and prioritize areas requiring the greatest protection in your business. Establishing goals also offers an excellent opportunity to communicate the importance of cybersecurity among team members while keeping everyone on board.
Step 2: Establish a Target Profile
The second step should involve developing a target profile. This document should identify desired outcomes of your cybersecurity program and allow for comparison between current and desired profiles, identifying any gaps that require attention and creating a prioritized action plan with mission drivers and cost/benefit analyses as the basis.
Step 3: Detect & Respond
The third step in cybersecurity management is detecting and responding to any cybersecurity incidents that arise, which includes creating incident response plans, conducting threat analyses, and creating employee awareness programs. Restoring affected capabilities or data after an event also plays an important part.
Step 4: Regulator Requirement Compliance
Step four ensures compliance with regulatory requirements while helping reduce fraud risks by keeping accurate records.
Step 5: Manage Information
Step five should help manage all information that needs to be gathered and store it there in one central place allowing employees without traveling back and forth between locations without losing data due to miscommunication issues caused by the misinformation being misrepresented or otherwise lost data being available via risk management information system allows employees access from anywhere without traveling back and forth from various locations without incurring extra travel back and forth between locations without incurring extra travel charges!
How Does NIST Help You Build the Best Cybersecurity System?
The National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, is a U.S. government lab that creates standards, metrics, and regulations related to online security. Companies working with federal agencies utilize these regulations in order to protect controlled unclassified information (CUI). Adherence to NIST guidelines offers clients the peace of mind of knowing their data will remain safe with them.
As a business, providing this assurance can be pivotal when bidding on contracts - it could make or break an opportunity. Achieving NIST compliance can make all the difference and you may even be able to use NIST AI to help gain compliance. However, there may be questions about the NIST framework AI trustworthiness that need to be addressed.
Will the NIST RMF prevent all cyber threats?
The NIST RMF can assist organizations in mitigating cyber threats by creating an effective relationship between requirements and security controls, which ensures all systems involved in its process are safe. Furthermore, organizations should continually assess their systems to make sure that they are operating according to expectations.
The RMF contains six steps:
- Prepare
- Categorize
- Select
- Implement
- Assess
- Authorize
Each of these is designed to assist organizations in improving their ability to effectively manage information security and privacy risks - both preventing attacks as well as responding to them. Businesses of any size looking to strengthen their cybersecurity abilities should explore options like the NIST RMF.
Once Prepare and Categorize are completed, organizations can then select and deploy safeguards that will reduce their cybersecurity risk. NIST Special Publication 800-53 provides several "Control Baselines" as a starting point to secure categorized information and systems.
What does the NIST RMF do for your cybersecurity?
The NIST RMF provides a holistic approach to cybersecurity that is applicable across industries and organizations of any size or scope. It can help organizations better identify and assess risks to their organization while creating an effective security planning strategy to minimize these threats.
It starts by helping your organization prepare to implement its risk management framework, including identifying stakeholders and understanding threats to information systems and organizations as well as conducting a system risk assessment. Next comes determining acceptable levels of risk and setting requirements for their security - this may involve developing and deploying software patches as well as installing new hardware.
The NIST RMF also involves selecting, tailoring, and documenting safeguards (commonly known as controls) that reduce cyber risk. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) contains over 1,000 individual controls, each designed to address an information system's unique risk profile.
Controls are classified according to impact on the system risk profile with priority numbers assigned for implementation and assessment on an ongoing basis. Ultimately this process results in an authorized system-level risk profile that allows authorization of operations while also verifying implementation, documentation, and assessment as per CSF controls implemented, documented, and assessed regularly on an ongoing basis.
What’s the most important part of cybersecurity?
Cybersecurity is an integral component of business data protection, helping protect business information against attacks that could threaten profits, decrease customer confidence and even result in bankruptcy for your organization.
One of the key elements of cybersecurity is having an effective incident response plan in place. This will enable companies to respond promptly and effectively in case of an attack, while employee training provides valuable lessons about spotting cyber threats as well as what to do should one arise.
Risk management information systems automate processes essential for effective risk mitigation and provide a clear view of overall company risks, compliance issues, and where additional measures might be needed to enhance security.
How can RiskRecon help me?
When it’s time to step up your cybersecurity, RiskRecon, a Mastercard Company offers the right choice for you. We know how to help you with your cybersecurity framework to ensure you can reduce cyber risk. Start with our 30-day trial today and let our team help you through the entire risk management process.