Cybercrime costs businesses around the world billions of dollars annually. Fear of cyberattacks continues to grow as much of the population becomes dependent on technology.
A cybersecurity maturity model is needed because protecting your organization and business has become a top priority.
The Cybersecurity Maturity Model guides organizations to assess their cybersecurity levels and identify security vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity protects sensitive data, protects an organization’s reputation, increases productivity, ensures business continuity, and aids in regulatory compliance.
These maturity models also help:
- CISO Board Report: Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)) Board report A detailed summary of the organization’s business risk.
- ROSI (Return on Security Investment): A maturity model helps you calculate the annual return on your security investment.
- Proactive Risk Management: These models help identify areas for improvement and encourage businesses to perform risk assessments on an ongoing basis.
A maturity model to help protect your organization
CMMC
The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) assesses the resilience, capability, and security of defense contractors and subcontractors.
The goal of the CMMC framework is to protect the supply chain from vulnerabilities and strengthen security practices. Initially, the Department of Defense CMMC To protect ourselves and our members from data breaches that compromise Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI) and Federal Contract Information (FCI).
CMMC is built on four elements:
- management practices
- security domain
- process
- function
These elements serve as US Department of Defense risk prevention protection.Designed by the Department of Defense CMMC with Phased approachit encourages contractors to reach successive CMMC certification levels by utilizing and incorporating a variety of cyber practices.
NIST CSF
The National Institute of Standards and Technology Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) provides small businesses with a framework for enhancing cybersecurity.of NIST CSF was released in 2014 and subsequently revised in 2018. NIST has developed a framework to facilitate cybersecurity risk management for critical infrastructure, but it can be used by any company, regardless of industry.
of NIST framework provides four focus areas for identifying a company’s maturity. These implementation layers represent the cybersecurity context of the enterprise and how well it demonstrates cybersecurity qualities. NIST CSF.
Each focus area helps an organization identify how mature it is and how well it can stop threats. As a business, you should aim to add layers of security controls to provide defense in depth.
read more NIST CSF implementation layer Your organization currently:
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Tier 1 (partial)
Organizations do not have security protocols. These companies have zero cyber maturity. Tier 1 companies need a deeper level of understanding of cybersecurity risks. Tier 1 is a good introduction point if your business requires a good budget, staff, or time investment.
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Tier 2 (risk information provision)
Companies in this tier have understood the risks and addressed compliance requirements. However, they may only partially address all security issues or have good policies implemented across their business. Most organizations in this tier have a good idea of their cybersecurity needs, but need more time to address them.
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Tier 3 (repeatable)
This tier is for organizations that have an established risk management program and follow cybersecurity best practices. These companies are primarily prepared for cybersecurity risks and threats and know how to deal with vulnerabilities. Tier 3 businesses typically work with external organizations to defend themselves against competitors.
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Tier 4 (Adaptive)
Tier 4 organizations are using the latest cybersecurity practices. Adaptive security is essential to cybersecurity because it focuses on and learns from cyber events and behaviors to improve risk management. Such organizations continually assess risk and apply policies based on past practices and experience.
C2M2
The Cybersecurity Capability Maturity Model (C2M2) serves as a tool to help companies assess their cybersecurity and drive security investments. C2M2 uses industry-vetted practices that pay special attention to IT (Information Technology) and OT (Operational Technology) environments and assets.
C2M2 was developed in 2012 by cybersecurity and energy industry experts, backed by a White House initiative that relies heavily on understanding electrical industry security.
The energy industry developed C2M2, but organizations of any size or industry can adopt C2M2.
The goals of C2M2 are:
- Strengthening the cyber system
- Measuring cyber capabilities
- Encourage knowledge sharing
- Prioritize investment and action
C2M2 has 350 cybersecurity practices divided into 10 logical domains based on purpose. All practices are given a Maturity Level Index (MIL) that indicates how well the practice has evolved within the domain.
C2M2 domains include:
|
Goals of C2M2 |
action |
|
response |
Responding to events and incidents, continuing operations |
|
threat |
Threat and vulnerability management |
|
third party |
Third party risk management |
|
assets |
Asset, change and configuration management |
|
Labor force |
Workforce management |
|
access |
Identity and access management |
|
Status |
situational awareness |
|
program |
Cybersecurity program management |
|
architecture |
cyber security architecture |
C2M2 uses maturity levels such as MIL1, MIL2 and MIL3 to measure progression. MIL1 contains practiced but ad-hoc practices, while MIL2 consists of documented procedures that are sufficiently resourced to boost domain activity.
Finally, MIL3 is a case where personnel are held accountable and accountable for their practices. This level tracks and evaluates all activities.
Six stages of cyber risk and compliance automation
Automating cyber risk is possible for any organization. Regardless of maturity: 6 step process It scales with your company and builds visibility into all your risk and compliance data.
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Stage 1 – Initial:
In the early stages, organizations are looking to check the compliance box instead of reducing overall risk and improving their security posture. Merely meeting compliance is risky, as processes must be considered to fully mitigate risk.
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Stage 2 – In Development:
Organizations can identify risks. Security teams have established credibility in cybersecurity programs, enabling leadership to fund risk automation.
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Stage 3 – Definition:
Leadership within the organization supports formal strategic planning for risk management. A process has been put in place to assess risk, but the method remains manual. At this point, the security team is responsible for the risk and compliance process and leadership understands the strategies in place.
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Stage 4 – Managed:
Regular and consistent executive-level reporting from the risk and compliance team. Within an organization, a risk-aware and cyber-aware culture is a priority. Organizations have more awareness of what they want to track. KPIs and KRIs – This can be industry based or specific to your organization.
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Stage 5 – Optimization:
Management and the board are consistent with the risk and compliance process. The organization is fully integrated with strategic decision making. Management drives data governance. Reports are used to inform decision making.Ann IRM solution You need to be present at this stage to quickly scale up your assessment without re-evaluating all controls.
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Stage 6 – Dynamic:
Your cybersecurity program has reached its peak. Automated solutions use automated reports to drive control decisions. Human intervention may validate risk data. Yet management solutions collect data on risk almost everywhere, and that data must be involved in dynamically adjusting cybersecurity posture.
summary
Aligning with the maturity model helps organizations understand the progress they can make in their cybersecurity program and where it stands today. A framework guides you through the steps to build cyber resilience and proactively address the growing cyber threats.
inquiry Learn how CyberStrong streamlines working with maturity models such as: CMMC and the NIST CSF.
