Whilst we all know that safeguarding business data is essential, cybersecurity is a vast and formidable space that’s overwhelming for many business owners. Finding a partner you trust can be challenging – you don’t want your business to be vulnerable, but you don’t want to oversold to either. And without an understanding of Cybersecurity and what is essential and what isn’t, it can be a tricky landscape for businesses to navigate.

For this reason, we choose to follow the NIST cybersecurity framework. This gives our clients reassurance that we’re following industry best practices and standardised guidelines.

In this blog post, we’ll explore why we use the NIST framework, the key components of the framework, and how it can strengthen your organisation’s cybersecurity posture.

What is the NIST Cybersecurity Framework?

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework is a comprehensive set of guidelines designed to help organisations better understand, assess, prioritise and communicate its cybersecurity efforts. Developed in the United States, the framework has gained substantial recognition for its effectiveness and adaptability, so is now used as a framework for Cybersecurity best practice all across the globe.

Why the NIST Framework?

We want to make sure that we offer the most effective products to our clients. We’ve spent countless hours over the years scouring the market to understand which products are the best. The NIST Framework allows us to assign a numerical score to a product based on how well it fits a specific criteria. In short, this means that if we sell a product, it’s undergone rigorous testing and investigation to ensure it does its job and is beneficial for our clients.

We began using NIST originally because it ensured consistency and meant that we had a concrete method of seeing which products are the best rather than just our own opinions. NIST was the framework we naturally gravitated towards because of its benefits for our clients:

• • It enhances security posture.
  • It aligns with industry best practices. For example, if a business needs to achieve CyberEssentials Plus or ISO 27001, complying with NIST means you’re already a long way there.
  • It helps with regulatory compliance (HIPAA, GDPR, CMMC etc.).
  • Improves communication between IT, security teams, and leadership.

The NIST Cyber Security Framework is also flexible and scalable meaning it’s suitable for a wide variety of businesses across all types, sizes and sectors. In our experience, the NIST framework is rigid enough to ensure absolute security, but flexible enough to suit a wide variety of needs – including our own and those of all our clients.

Key Components of the NIST Framework

You now know why we use the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, but what actually is it? It’s a set of guidelines built around five core functions:

1. Identify: Understanding your organisation’s cybersecurity risks, assets, and capabilities.
2. Protect: Implementing safeguards to ensure the delivery of critical services.
3. Detect: Developing and implementing activities to identify cybersecurity events.
4. Respond: Taking action regarding detected cybersecurity incidents.
5. Recover: Maintaining plans for resilience and restoring capabilities after an incident.

Why It Matters

This framework offers a structured approach to cybersecurity, and as mentioned earlier, for many businesses who don’t have a deep understanding of cybersecurity, having structure and a framework to lean on is essential.

The framework emphasises risk management encouraging businesses to make cybersecurity decisions based on their unique risk profile. This means that businesses develop an understanding of cybersecurity, why it’s needed and encourages continuous evaluation and improvement as the business needs change.

Adopting the NIST Cyber Security Framework can significantly enhance the security posture of SMEs, protecting sensitive client information and maintaining trust. It helps businesses meet regulatory requirements, reducing the risk of non-compliance penalties. Moreover, the framework provides a cost-effective approach to cybersecurity by allowing SMEs to prioritise investments based on risk.

The Impact on Businesses

By implementing this framework, businesses can better understand cybersecurity, better protect their data, and enhance their overall resilience against cyber threats. In addition, for industries that are highly regulated, like law and finance, this will help you work towards your compliance.

Following a framework like this also ensures that businesses are following an approach suited to them. Too often we see an all or nothing approach – a setup to rival Fort Knox that just isn’t needed for that business, or almost no measures in place with the business just hoping they won’t be attacked. The framework gives reassurance to the business itself, but also their clients and stakeholders that they have an appropriate amount of security for their needs and are taking cyber security seriously.

Conclusion

Adopting the NIST Cybersecurity Framework is a strategic move for SMEs in the UK, especially those in heavily regulated industries like law and finance. By understanding and implementing this framework, or by working with an IT partner that uses this framework, businesses can confidently enhance their cybersecurity posture, ensure regulatory compliance, and protect their valuable assets.

If you’d like to learn more about the Nist framework can help your business, or you’d like to start your cybersecurity journey, please fill in the form below and we’ll be in touch.