What if there were a playbook for cybersecurity - a guide with step-by-step, expert instructions for how to enhance your cybersecurity posture? The Center for Internet Security (CIS) Controls serve as a “prioritized set of actions to protect your organization and data from cyber-attack vectors” and provide a simplified set of safeguards that any organization can use to strengthen their security strategy.
Here we’ll explore the CIS Controls, their benefits, and how they can be effectively implemented to safeguard your organization against cyber threats.
What Are CIS Controls?
Definition and purpose of CIS Controls
CIS Controls, also known as Critical Security Controls (CSC), are a set of best practices and guidelines designed to help organizations improve their cybersecurity defenses. These controls were developed by the Center for Internet Security (CIS), a nonprofit organization dedicated to enhancing cybersecurity readiness and response. The CIS Controls are based on the collective knowledge and expertise of cybersecurity professionals from various industries, including government, academia, and the private sector.
The primary purpose of the CIS Controls is to provide organizations with an actionable framework for addressing the most common and pervasive cyber threats. By focusing on these critical areas, organizations can significantly reduce their risk of cyberattacks and improve their overall security posture.
How CIS controls help protect organizations against cyber threats
CIS Controls are designed to address the most significant cybersecurity risks faced by organizations. By implementing these controls, organizations can effectively protect their systems, networks, and data from various cyber threats. Some of the ways CIS Controls help protect organizations include:
- Reducing attack surface: By implementing CIS Controls, organizations can minimize the number of potential entry points for cyber attackers. This helps reduce the attack surface and makes it more challenging for cybercriminals to gain unauthorized access to the organization's systems and data.
- Enhancing detection and response: CIS Controls include measures for monitoring and detecting suspicious activities within the organization's network. This enables organizations to quickly identify and respond to potential threats, minimizing the impact of cyber incidents.
- Improving security awareness: CIS Controls emphasize the importance of security training and awareness for employees. By educating staff on cybersecurity best practices and potential threats, organizations can create a security-conscious culture that helps prevent human errors and insider threats.
- Ensuring compliance: Many industry regulations and standards require organizations to implement specific security controls. By adopting CIS Controls, organizations can ensure compliance with these requirements and avoid potential fines and penalties.
Benefits of implementing CIS Controls
Implementing CIS Controls offers several benefits for organizations seeking to improve their cybersecurity defenses. Some of the key benefits include:
- Prioritized security measures: CIS Controls provide a prioritized list of security measures, allowing organizations to focus their efforts on the most critical areas first. This ensures that limited resources are used effectively to address the most significant risks.
- Comprehensive coverage: The CIS Controls cover a wide range of security domains, including asset management, data protection, network security, and incident response. This comprehensive approach ensures that organizations address all aspects of their cybersecurity posture.
- Scalability: CIS Controls are designed to be scalable and can be implemented by organizations of all sizes, from small businesses to large enterprises. This flexibility makes them suitable for a wide range of industries and sectors.
- Proven effectiveness: The CIS Controls are based on real-world experiences and have been proven effective in reducing the risk of cyberattacks. Organizations that implement these controls can benefit from the collective knowledge and expertise of the global cybersecurity community.
- Improved resilience: By implementing CIS Controls, organizations can enhance their resilience against cyber threats. This includes improving their ability to detect, respond to, and recover from cyber incidents, ensuring the continuity of their operations.
The 17 CIS Critical Security Controls
The CIS Controls consist of 17 critical security controls that address various aspects of an organization's cybersecurity posture. These controls are designed to provide a comprehensive and prioritized approach to improving cybersecurity defenses. Here’s a closer look at each of these controls:
1. Inventory and control of enterprise assets
This control focuses on creating and maintaining an accurate inventory of all hardware assets within the organization. By knowing what assets are present and ensuring they are properly managed, organizations can prevent unauthorized devices from being connected to their networks.
2. Inventory and control of software assets
Similar to the first control, this one emphasizes the importance of maintaining an inventory of all software assets. This includes identifying authorized software and ensuring that only approved applications are installed and running on organizational systems. This is also a key step in helping to understand your security stack. If you are able to inventory all of your software and applications, you can find the gaps you might have in protection or identify areas of duplication that could benefit from streamlining in order to potentially reduce costs and boost productivity.
3. Protection of data
Data protection is a critical aspect of cybersecurity. This control involves implementing measures to safeguard sensitive information, both in transit and at rest. This includes encryption, access controls, and data loss prevention mechanisms.
4. Secure configuration
Secure configuration involves establishing and maintaining secure settings for hardware and software. This includes disabling unnecessary features, services, and ports, as well as ensuring that default configurations are replaced with secure settings.
5. Management of accounts
Proper account management is essential for preventing unauthorized access. This control includes implementing strong authentication mechanisms, regularly reviewing user accounts, and promptly disabling or removing accounts that are no longer needed.
6. Vulnerability management
Vulnerability management involves regularly scanning systems and applications for vulnerabilities and promptly applying patches and updates. This helps organizations stay protected against known threats and reduces the risk of exploitation.
7. Auditing of log management
Effective log management is crucial for detecting and investigating security incidents. This control involves collecting, analyzing, and retaining logs from various sources to identify suspicious activities and support forensic investigations.
8. Web browser and email protection
Web browsers and email clients are common vectors for cyberattacks. This control focuses on securing these applications by implementing measures such as email filtering, web content filtering, and disabling unnecessary browser plugins.
9. Defense of malware
Malware defense involves implementing measures to detect and prevent malware infections. This includes using antivirus software, regularly updating malware signatures, and employing advanced threat detection technologies.
10. Recovery of data
Data recovery is essential for ensuring business continuity in the event of a cyber incident. This control includes implementing regular data backups, testing backup procedures, and having a robust disaster recovery plan in place.
11. Management of network infrastructure
Proper management of network infrastructure is crucial for maintaining a secure environment. This control involves implementing measures such as network segmentation, access controls, and monitoring to ensure the security of network devices and traffic.
12. Monitoring and defense of network
Continuous monitoring and defense of the network are essential for detecting and responding to security incidents. This control includes implementing intrusion detection and prevention systems, network traffic analysis, and security information and event management (SIEM) solutions.
13. Skill training and security awareness
Human error is a significant factor in many cybersecurity incidents. In fact, recent research shows that human factors create significant cybersecurity risks for small and medium-sized businesses. This CIS control emphasizes the importance of providing regular training and awareness programs to educate employees on cybersecurity best practices and potential threats.
14. Evaluate and manage service providers
Organizations often rely on third-party service providers for various functions. This control involves assessing and managing the security practices of these providers to ensure they meet the organization's security requirements.
15. Security of application software
Application security is crucial for preventing vulnerabilities that can be exploited by attackers. This control involves implementing secure coding practices, conducting regular security assessments, and addressing identified vulnerabilities promptly.
16. Managing incident response
Effective incident response is critical for minimizing the impact of security incidents. This control includes establishing an incident response plan, conducting regular drills, and ensuring that all relevant personnel are trained to respond to incidents effectively.
17. Penetration testing
Penetration testing involves simulating cyberattacks to identify and address vulnerabilities in the organization's systems and networks. This control helps organizations understand their security weaknesses and improve their defenses.
Implementing CIS Controls
While the CIS Controls offer a way to organize (and in some ways simplify) security while strengthening security outcomes, starting to assess your own security according to the CIS framework can be challenging at first, simply because the list of steps is long and organizations, no matter what size, have finite resources. That’s why successfully implementing CIS Controls requires a structured and systematic approach. Here are some steps and best practices for effective implementation:
Step-by-step guide to implementing CIS Controls
- Assess your current security posture: Begin by conducting a thorough assessment of your organization's existing security measures and identifying gaps that need to be addressed.
- Prioritize controls: Prioritize the implementation of CIS Controls based on the most critical areas and the specific needs of your organization.
- Develop an implementation plan: Create a detailed plan outlining the steps, resources, and timeline required for implementing the selected controls.
- Assign responsibilities: Assign specific roles and responsibilities to team members for implementing and managing each control.
- Implement controls: Begin the implementation process, starting with the highest-priority controls and working through the list.
- Monitor and evaluate: Continuously monitor the effectiveness of the implemented controls and make necessary adjustments to improve security.
- Regularly update and review: Periodically review and update the controls to ensure they remain effective against evolving threats and technological advancements.
Best practices for effective implementation
CIS Controls might be the way forward for your organization, and their framework might help you improve your security outcomes and reduce risk, but starting with these steps can help set you up for a successful implementation.
- Engage stakeholders: Involve key stakeholders from various departments to ensure a holistic approach to cybersecurity and gain their support for implementing the controls.
- Adopt a risk-based approach: Focus on addressing the most significant risks and vulnerabilities first to maximize the impact of your efforts.
- Leverage automation: Utilize automated tools and technologies to streamline the implementation and management of CIS Controls, reducing the burden on IT staff.
- Continuous improvement: Regularly assess and improve your cybersecurity measures to stay ahead of emerging threats and maintain a strong security posture.
Common challenges and how to overcome them
Change, even for the better, can trigger resistance or just be difficult to manage logistically. Remember that even slow and steady change can be a huge positive for your security goals.
- Resource constraints: Limited resources can be a significant challenge. Prioritize critical controls and seek external support if necessary. The promise of CIS Controls is that the steps are parts of a greater whole and can be tackled one at a time if needed, with significant security improvements still possible in increments. Your organization may be willing to onboard temporary or contract workers to help support implementation if each step is time-based or has definitive metrics of successful completion.
- Resistance to change: Employees may resist new security measures. Provide training and communicate the importance of cybersecurity to gain their buy-in.
- Complexity of implementation: Implementing multiple controls can be complex. Break the process into manageable steps and seek expert guidance if needed.
CIS Controls vs Other Security Frameworks
CIS Controls are just one of many cybersecurity frameworks available to organizations. Here's how they compare to other popular frameworks:
Comparison of CIS Controls with other popular frameworks
- NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF): The NIST CSF is a comprehensive framework that provides guidelines for managing and reducing cybersecurity risk. While it offers a broader approach, CIS Controls provide more specific and actionable recommendations.
- ISO/IEC 27001: ISO/IEC 27001 is an international standard for information security management systems. It focuses on establishing a systematic approach to managing sensitive information. CIS Controls, on the other hand, provide more detailed technical controls.
- COBIT: COBIT is a framework for IT governance and management. While it includes security controls, its primary focus is on aligning IT with business goals. CIS Controls are more focused on specific security measures.
Advantages of choosing CIS Controls for cyber defense
For some businesses, CIS Controls is the security framework that makes the most sense to support their security goals. Here are some of the benefits that security leaders cite as the advantage to CIS Controls.
- Actionable guidance: CIS Controls provide specific, actionable recommendations that organizations can implement to enhance their cybersecurity defenses.
- Prioritized approach: The prioritized list of controls helps organizations focus on the most critical areas first, ensuring efficient use of resources.
- Community-driven: CIS Controls are developed and maintained by a community of cybersecurity professionals, ensuring they are up-to-date and relevant.
How CIS controls align with industry standards
CIS Controls align with many industry standards and regulations, making it easier for organizations to achieve compliance. For example, implementing CIS Controls can help organizations meet the requirements of standards such as:
- HIPAA: The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requires healthcare organizations to implement security measures to protect patient data. CIS Controls provide guidelines for achieving these requirements.
- PCI DSS: The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) requires organizations that handle payment card information to implement specific security measures. CIS Controls can help organizations meet these requirements and secure payment data.
- GDPR: The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires organizations to protect the personal data of EU citizens. CIS Controls offer guidance on implementing security measures to comply with GDPR.
Achieving Compliance With CIS Controls
Achieving compliance with CIS Controls is essential for organizations seeking to enhance their cybersecurity defenses. Here's how to achieve compliance:
Understanding CIS compliance and its importance
Compliance with CIS Controls demonstrates an organization's commitment to cybersecurity and helps protect against cyber threats. It also ensures that organizations meet industry standards and regulatory requirements, which reduce risk, increase customer, client and stakeholder trust, as well as improve financial outcomes by limiting fines and penalties.
Steps to achieve compliance with CIS Controls
- Conduct a gap analysis: Assess your current security measures against the CIS Controls to identify gaps and areas for improvement.
- Develop a compliance plan: Create a detailed plan outlining the steps, resources, and timeline required to achieve compliance.
- Implement the controls: Begin the implementation process, starting with the highest-priority controls and working through the list.
- Monitor and review: Continuously monitor the effectiveness of the implemented controls and make necessary adjustments to maintain compliance.
- Conduct regular audits: Regularly audit your security measures to ensure ongoing compliance with CIS Controls and identify areas for improvement.
CIS Controls and LastPass
LastPass can help organizations align with CIS Controls and enhance their cybersecurity defenses. Here's how LastPass can assist in meeting CIS compliance requirements:
How LastPass aligns with CIS Controls
- Secure account management: LastPass helps organizations manage user accounts securely by storing passwords in an encrypted vault and providing strong authentication mechanisms.
- Access control: LastPass enables organizations to control access to sensitive information by implementing role-based access controls and enforcing multi-factor authentication (MFA).
- Data protection: LastPass encrypts all stored data, ensuring that sensitive information is protected both in transit and at rest.
How LastPass can assist in meeting CIS compliance requirements
LastPass is a useful tool to help organizations meet compliance goals according to the CIS Controls framework in the following ways:
- Password management: LastPass simplifies password management allowing organizations to customize and enforce password requirements, like length and complexity.
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): LastPass supports MFA, adding an extra layer of security to user accounts and helping organizations meet CIS requirements for strong authentication.
- Audit and reporting: LastPass provides detailed audit logs and reporting capabilities, allowing organizations to monitor and review account activity for compliance purposes.
Using LastPass for secure account management
- Centralized password storage: LastPass stores all passwords in a secure, centralized vault, reducing the risk of password-related breaches. Implementing strong, unique password requirements for each account minimizes the risk of password reuse and weak passwords.
- Secure sharing: LastPass allows users to securely share passwords and other sensitive information with authorized individuals, reducing the risk of unauthorized access.
Integrating LastPass into your organization's cybersecurity strategy
LastPass can support your move towards aligning with CIS Controls and help protect your accounts, organization-wide.
- Implementing LastPass: Deploy LastPass across the organization to manage and secure user accounts effectively.
- Training and awareness: Provide training and awareness programs to educate employees on the importance of strong password management and how to use LastPass effectively.
- Regular reviews: Regularly review and update password policies and ensure that LastPass is used consistently to maintain a strong security posture.
Strong security outcomes are possible when aligning organized, vetted processes alongside the right tools to use when standing up and executing on a strategy. By understanding and implementing CIS Controls, organizations can significantly enhance their cybersecurity defenses and protect against the ever-evolving threat landscape. Leveraging tools like LastPass can further strengthen security measures and ensure compliance with industry standards and regulations.
You can try LastPass at your business with a free trial.
