The organizational mission is understood and informs cybersecurity risk management

Share the organization's mission (e.g., through vision and mission statements, marketing, and service strategies) to provide a basis for identifying risks that may impede that mission

Internal and external stakeholders are understood, and their needs and expectations regarding cybersecurity risk management are understood and considered

Identify relevant internal stakeholders and their cybersecurity-related expectations (e.g., performance and risk expectations of officers, directors, and advisors; cultural expectations of employees)

Identify relevant external stakeholders and their cybersecurity-related expectations (e.g., privacy expectations of customers, business expectations of partnerships, compliance expectations of regulators, ethics expectations of society)

Legal, regulatory, and contractual requirements regarding cybersecurity - including privacy and civil liberties obligations - are understood and managed

Determine a process to track and manage legal and regulatory requirements regarding protection of individuals' information (e.g., Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, California Consumer Privacy Act, General Data Protection Regulation)

Determine a process to track and manage contractual requirements for cybersecurity management of supplier, customer, and partner information

Align the organization's cybersecurity strategy with legal, regulatory, and contractual requirements

Critical objectives, capabilities, and services that external stakeholders depend on or expect from the organization are understood and communicated

Establish criteria for determining the criticality of capabilities and services as viewed by internal and external stakeholders

Determine (e.g., from a business impact analysis) assets and business operations that are vital to achieving mission objectives and the potential impact of a loss (or partial loss) of such operations

Establish and communicate resilience objectives (e.g., recovery time objectives) for delivering critical capabilities and services in various operating states (e.g., under attack, during recovery, normal operation)

Outcomes, capabilities, and services that the organization depends on are understood and communicated

Create an inventory of the organization's dependencies on external resources (e.g., facilities, cloud-based hosting providers) and their relationships to organizational assets and business functions

Identify and document external dependencies that are potential points of failure for the organization's critical capabilities and services, and share that information with appropriate personnel

Cybersecurity risk management strategy outcomes are reviewed to inform and adjust strategy and direction

Measure how well the risk management strategy and risk results have helped leaders make decisions and achieve organizational objectives

Examine whether cybersecurity risk strategies that impede operations or innovation should be adjusted

The cybersecurity risk management strategy is reviewed and adjusted to ensure coverage of organizational requirements and risks

Review audit findings to confirm whether the existing cybersecurity strategy has ensured compliance with internal and external requirements

Review the performance oversight of those in cybersecurity-related roles to determine whether policy changes are necessary

Review strategy in light of cybersecurity incidents

Organizational cybersecurity risk management performance is evaluated and reviewed for adjustments needed

Review key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure that organization-wide policies and procedures achieve objectives

Review key risk indicators (KRIs) to identify risks the organization faces, including likelihood and potential impact

Collect and communicate metrics on cybersecurity risk management with senior leadership

Policy for managing cybersecurity risks is established based on organizational context, cybersecurity strategy, and priorities and is communicated and enforced

Create, disseminate, and maintain an understandable, usable risk management policy with statements of management intent, expectations, and direction

Periodically review policy and supporting processes and procedures to ensure that they align with risk management strategy objectives and priorities, as well as the high-level direction of the cybersecurity policy

Require approval from senior management on policy

Communicate cybersecurity risk management policy and supporting processes and procedures across the organization

Require personnel to acknowledge receipt of policy when first hired, annually, and whenever policy is updated

Policy for managing cybersecurity risks is reviewed, updated, communicated, and enforced to reflect changes in requirements, threats, technology, and organizational mission

Update policy based on periodic reviews of cybersecurity risk management results to ensure that policy and supporting processes and procedures adequately maintain risk at an acceptable level

Provide a timeline for reviewing changes to the organization's risk environment (e.g., changes in risk or in the organization's mission objectives), and communicate recommended policy updates

Update policy to reflect changes in legal and regulatory requirements

Update policy to reflect changes in technology (e.g., adoption of artificial intelligence) and changes to the business (e.g., acquisition of a new business, new contract requirements)

Risk management objectives are established and agreed to by organizational stakeholders

Update near-term and long-term cybersecurity risk management objectives as part of annual strategic planning and when major changes occur

Establish measurable objectives for cybersecurity risk management (e.g., manage the quality of user training, ensure adequate risk protection for industrial control systems)

Senior leaders agree about cybersecurity objectives and use them for measuring and managing risk and performance

Risk appetite and risk tolerance statements are established, communicated, and maintained

Determine and communicate risk appetite statements that convey expectations about the appropriate level of risk for the organization

Translate risk appetite statements into specific, measurable, and broadly understandable risk tolerance statements

Refine organizational objectives and risk appetite periodically based on known risk exposure and residual risk

Cybersecurity risk management activities and outcomes are included in enterprise risk management processes

Aggregate and manage cybersecurity risks alongside other enterprise risks (e.g., compliance, financial, operational, regulatory, reputational, safety)

Include cybersecurity risk managers in enterprise risk management planning

Establish criteria for escalating cybersecurity risks within enterprise risk management

Strategic direction that describes appropriate risk response options is established and communicated

Specify criteria for accepting and avoiding cybersecurity risk for various classifications of data

Determine whether to purchase cybersecurity insurance

Document conditions under which shared responsibility models are acceptable (e.g., outsourcing certain cybersecurity functions, having a third party perform financial transactions on behalf of the organization, using public cloud-based services)

Lines of communication across the organization are established for cybersecurity risks, including risks from suppliers and other third parties

Determine how to update senior executives, directors, and management on the organization's cybersecurity posture at agreed-upon intervals

Identify how all departments across the organization - such as management, operations, internal auditors, legal, acquisition, physical security, and HR - will communicate with each other about cybersecurity risks

A standardized method for calculating, documenting, categorizing, and prioritizing cybersecurity risks is established and communicated

Establish criteria for using a quantitative approach to cybersecurity risk analysis, and specify probability and exposure formulas

Create and use templates (e.g., a risk register) to document cybersecurity risk information (e.g., risk description, exposure, treatment, and ownership)

Establish criteria for risk prioritization at the appropriate levels within the enterprise

Use a consistent list of risk categories to support integrating, aggregating, and comparing cybersecurity risks

Strategic opportunities (i.e., positive risks) are characterized and are included in organizational cybersecurity risk discussions

Define and communicate guidance and methods for identifying opportunities and including them in risk discussions (e.g., strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) analysis)

Identify stretch goals and document them

Calculate, document, and prioritize positive risks alongside negative risks

Organizational leadership is responsible and accountable for cybersecurity risk and fosters a culture that is risk-aware, ethical, and continually improving

Leaders (e.g., directors) agree on their roles and responsibilities in developing, implementing, and assessing the organization's cybersecurity strategy

Share leaders' expectations regarding a secure and ethical culture, especially when current events present the opportunity to highlight positive or negative examples of cybersecurity risk management

Leaders direct the CISO to maintain a comprehensive cybersecurity risk strategy and review and update it at least annually and after major events

Conduct reviews to ensure adequate authority and coordination among those responsible for managing cybersecurity risk

Roles, responsibilities, and authorities related to cybersecurity risk management are established, communicated, understood, and enforced

Document risk management roles and responsibilities in policy

Document who is responsible and accountable for cybersecurity risk management activities and how those teams and individuals are to be consulted and informed

Include cybersecurity responsibilities and performance requirements in personnel descriptions

Document performance goals for personnel with cybersecurity risk management responsibilities, and periodically measure performance to identify areas for improvement

Clearly articulate cybersecurity responsibilities within operations, risk functions, and internal audit functions

Adequate resources are allocated commensurate with the cybersecurity risk strategy, roles, responsibilities, and policies

Conduct periodic management reviews to ensure that those given cybersecurity risk management responsibilities have the necessary authority

Identify resource allocation and investment in line with risk tolerance and response

Provide adequate and sufficient people, process, and technical resources to support the cybersecurity strategy

Cybersecurity is included in human resources practices

Integrate cybersecurity risk management considerations into human resources processes (e.g., personnel screening, onboarding, change notification, offboarding)

Consider cybersecurity knowledge to be a positive factor in hiring, training, and retention decisions

Conduct background checks prior to onboarding new personnel for sensitive roles, and periodically repeat background checks for personnel with such roles

Define and enforce obligations for personnel to be aware of, adhere to, and uphold security policies as they relate to their roles

A cybersecurity supply chain risk management program, strategy, objectives, policies, and processes are established and agreed to by organizational stakeholders

Establish a strategy that expresses the objectives of the cybersecurity supply chain risk management program

Develop the cybersecurity supply chain risk management program, including a plan (with milestones), policies, and procedures that guide implementation and improvement of the program, and share the policies and procedures with the organizational stakeholders

Develop and implement program processes based on the strategy, objectives, policies, and procedures that are agreed upon and performed by the organizational stakeholders

Establish a cross-organizational mechanism that ensures alignment between functions that contribute to cybersecurity supply chain risk management, such as cybersecurity, IT, operations, legal, human resources, and engineering

Cybersecurity roles and responsibilities for suppliers, customers, and partners are established, communicated, and coordinated internally and externally

Identify one or more specific roles or positions that will be responsible and accountable for planning, resourcing, and executing cybersecurity supply chain risk management activities

Document cybersecurity supply chain risk management roles and responsibilities in policy

Create responsibility matrixes to document who will be responsible and accountable for cybersecurity supply chain risk management activities and how those teams and individuals will be consulted and informed

Include cybersecurity supply chain risk management responsibilities and performance requirements in personnel descriptions to ensure clarity and improve accountability

Document performance goals for personnel with cybersecurity risk management-specific responsibilities, and periodically measure them to demonstrate and improve performance

Develop roles and responsibilities for suppliers, customers, and business partners to address shared responsibilities for applicable cybersecurity risks, and integrate them into organizational policies and applicable third-party agreements

Internally communicate cybersecurity supply chain risk management roles and responsibilities for third parties

Establish rules and protocols for information sharing and reporting processes between the organization and its suppliers

Cybersecurity supply chain risk management is integrated into cybersecurity and enterprise risk management, risk assessment, and improvement processes

Identify areas of alignment and overlap with cybersecurity and enterprise risk management

Establish integrated control sets for cybersecurity risk management and cybersecurity supply chain risk management

Integrate cybersecurity supply chain risk management into improvement processes

Escalate material cybersecurity risks in supply chains to senior management, and address them at the enterprise risk management level

Suppliers are known and prioritized by criticality

Develop criteria for supplier criticality based on, for example, the sensitivity of data processed or possessed by suppliers, the degree of access to the organization's systems, and the importance of the products or services to the organization's mission

Keep a record of all suppliers, and prioritize suppliers based on the criticality criteria

Requirements to address cybersecurity risks in supply chains are established, prioritized, and integrated into contracts and other types of agreements with suppliers and other relevant third parties

Establish security requirements for suppliers, products, and services commensurate with their criticality level and potential impact if compromised

Include all cybersecurity and supply chain requirements that third parties must follow and how compliance with the requirements may be verified in default contractual language

Define the rules and protocols for information sharing between the organization and its suppliers and sub-tier suppliers in agreements

Manage risk by including security requirements in agreements based on their criticality and potential impact if compromised

Define security requirements in service-level agreements (SLAs) for monitoring suppliers for acceptable security performance throughout the supplier relationship lifecycle

Contractually require suppliers to disclose cybersecurity features, functions, and vulnerabilities of their products and services for the life of the product or the term of service

Contractually require suppliers to provide and maintain a current component inventory (e.g., software or hardware bill of materials) for critical products

Contractually require suppliers to vet their employees and guard against insider threats

Contractually require suppliers to provide evidence of performing acceptable security practices through, for example, self-attestation, conformance to known standards, certifications, or inspections

Specify in contracts and other agreements the rights and responsibilities of the organization, its suppliers, and their supply chains, with respect to potential cybersecurity risks

Planning and due diligence are performed to reduce risks before entering into formal supplier or other third-party relationships

Perform thorough due diligence on prospective suppliers that is consistent with procurement planning and commensurate with the level of risk, criticality, and complexity of each supplier relationship

Assess the suitability of the technology and cybersecurity capabilities and the risk management practices of prospective suppliers

Conduct supplier risk assessments against business and applicable cybersecurity requirements

Assess the authenticity, integrity, and security of critical products prior to acquisition and use

The risks posed by a supplier, their products and services, and other third parties are understood, recorded, prioritized, assessed, responded to, and monitored over the course of the relationship

Adjust assessment formats and frequencies based on the third party's reputation and the criticality of the products or services they provide

Evaluate third parties' evidence of compliance with contractual cybersecurity requirements, such as self-attestations, warranties, certifications, and other artifacts

Monitor critical suppliers to ensure that they are fulfilling their security obligations throughout the supplier relationship lifecycle using a variety of methods and techniques, such as inspections, audits, tests, or other forms of evaluation

Monitor critical suppliers, services, and products for changes to their risk profiles, and reevaluate supplier criticality and risk impact accordingly

Plan for unexpected supplier and supply chain-related interruptions to ensure business continuity

Relevant suppliers and other third parties are included in incident planning, response, and recovery activities

Define and use rules and protocols for reporting incident response and recovery activities and the status between the organization and its suppliers

Identify and document the roles and responsibilities of the organization and its suppliers for incident response

Include critical suppliers in incident response exercises and simulations

Define and coordinate crisis communication methods and protocols between the organization and its critical suppliers

Conduct collaborative lessons learned sessions with critical suppliers

Supply chain security practices are integrated into cybersecurity and enterprise risk management programs, and their performance is monitored throughout the technology product and service life cycle

Policies and procedures require provenance records for all acquired technology products and services

Periodically provide risk reporting to leaders about how acquired components are proven to be untampered and authentic

Communicate regularly among cybersecurity risk managers and operations personnel about the need to acquire software patches, updates, and upgrades only from authenticated and trustworthy software providers

Review policies to ensure that they require approved supplier personnel to perform maintenance on supplier products

Policies and procedure require checking upgrades to critical hardware for unauthorized changes

Cybersecurity supply chain risk management plans include provisions for activities that occur after the conclusion of a partnership or service agreement

Establish processes for terminating critical relationships under both normal and adverse circumstances

Define and implement plans for component end-of-life maintenance support and obsolescence

Verify that supplier access to organization resources is deactivated promptly when it is no longer needed

Verify that assets containing the organization's data are returned or properly disposed of in a timely, controlled, and safe manner

Develop and execute a plan for terminating or transitioning supplier relationships that takes supply chain security risk and resiliency into account

Mitigate risks to data and systems created by supplier termination

Manage data leakage risks associated with supplier termination

Inventories of hardware managed by the organization are maintained

Maintain inventories for all types of hardware, including IT, IoT, OT, and mobile devices

Constantly monitor networks to detect new hardware and automatically update inventories

Inventories of software, services, and systems managed by the organization are maintained

Maintain inventories for all types of software and services, including commercial-off-the-shelf, open-source, custom applications, API services, and cloud-based applications and services

Constantly monitor all platforms, including containers and virtual machines, for software and service inventory changes

Maintain an inventory of the organization's systems

Representations of the organization's authorized network communication and internal and external network data flows are maintained

Maintain baselines of communication and data flows within the organization's wired and wireless networks

Maintain baselines of communication and data flows between the organization and third parties

Maintain baselines of communication and data flows for the organization's infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) usage

Maintain documentation of expected network ports, protocols, and services that are typically used among authorized systems

Inventories of services provided by suppliers are maintained

Inventory all external services used by the organization, including third-party infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS), and software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings; APIs; and other externally hosted application services

Update the inventory when a new external service is going to be utilized to ensure adequate cybersecurity risk management monitoring of the organization's use of that service

Assets are prioritized based on classification, criticality, resources, and impact on the mission

Define criteria for prioritizing each class of assets

Apply the prioritization criteria to assets

Track the asset priorities and update them periodically or when significant changes to the organization occur

Inventories of data and corresponding metadata for designated data types are maintained

Maintain a list of the designated data types of interest (e.g., personally identifiable information, protected health information, financial account numbers, organization intellectual property, operational technology data)

Continuously discover and analyze ad hoc data to identify new instances of designated data types

Assign data classifications to designated data types through tags or labels

Track the provenance, data owner, and geolocation of each instance of designated data types

Systems, hardware, software, services, and data are managed throughout their life cycles

Integrate cybersecurity considerations throughout the life cycles of systems, hardware, software, and services

Integrate cybersecurity considerations into product life cycles

Identify unofficial uses of technology to meet mission objectives (i.e., shadow IT)

Periodically identify redundant systems, hardware, software, and services that unnecessarily increase the organization's attack surface

Properly configure and secure systems, hardware, software, and services prior to their deployment in production

Update inventories when systems, hardware, software, and services are moved or transferred within the organization

Securely destroy stored data based on the organization's data retention policy using the prescribed destruction method, and keep and manage a record of the destructions

Securely sanitize data storage when hardware is being retired, decommissioned, reassigned, or sent for repairs or replacement

Offer methods for destroying paper, storage media, and other physical forms of data storage

Improvements are identified from evaluations

Perform self-assessments of critical services that take current threats and TTPs into consideration

Invest in third-party assessments or independent audits of the effectiveness of the organization's cybersecurity program to identify areas that need improvement

Constantly evaluate compliance with selected cybersecurity requirements through automated means

Improvements are identified from security tests and exercises, including those done in coordination with suppliers and relevant third parties

Identify improvements for future incident response activities based on findings from incident response assessments (e.g., tabletop exercises and simulations, tests, internal reviews, independent audits)

Identify improvements for future business continuity, disaster recovery, and incident response activities based on exercises performed in coordination with critical service providers and product suppliers

Involve internal stakeholders (e.g., senior executives, legal department, HR) in security tests and exercises as appropriate

Perform penetration testing to identify opportunities to improve the security posture of selected high-risk systems as approved by leadership

Exercise contingency plans for responding to and recovering from the discovery that products or services did not originate with the contracted supplier or partner or were altered before receipt

Collect and analyze performance metrics using security tools and services to inform improvements to the cybersecurity program

Improvements are identified from execution of operational processes, procedures, and activities

Conduct collaborative lessons learned sessions with suppliers

Annually review cybersecurity policies, processes, and procedures to take lessons learned into account

Use metrics to assess operational cybersecurity performance over time

Incident response plans and other cybersecurity plans that affect operations are established, communicated, maintained, and improved

Establish contingency plans (e.g., incident response, business continuity, disaster recovery) for responding to and recovering from adverse events that can interfere with operations, expose confidential information, or otherwise endanger the organization's mission and viability

Include contact and communication information, processes for handling common scenarios, and criteria for prioritization, escalation, and elevation in all contingency plans

Create a vulnerability management plan to identify and assess all types of vulnerabilities and to prioritize, test, and implement risk responses

Communicate cybersecurity plans (including updates) to those responsible for carrying them out and to affected parties

Review and update all cybersecurity plans annually or when a need for significant improvements is identified

Vulnerabilities in assets are identified, validated, and recorded

Use vulnerability management technologies to identify unpatched and misconfigured software

Assess network and system architectures for design and implementation weaknesses that affect cybersecurity

Review, analyze, or test organization-developed software to identify design, coding, and default configuration vulnerabilities

Assess facilities that house critical computing assets for physical vulnerabilities and resilience issues

Monitor sources of cyber threat intelligence for information on new vulnerabilities in products and services

Review processes and procedures for weaknesses that could be exploited to affect cybersecurity

Cyber threat intelligence is received from information sharing forums and sources

Configure cybersecurity tools and technologies with detection or response capabilities to securely ingest cyber threat intelligence feeds

Receive and review advisories from reputable third parties on current threat actors and their tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs)

Monitor sources of cyber threat intelligence for information on the types of vulnerabilities that emerging technologies may have

Internal and external threats to the organization are identified and recorded

Use cyber threat intelligence to maintain awareness of the types of threat actors likely to target the organization and the TTPs they are likely to use

Perform threat hunting to look for signs of threat actors within the environment

Implement processes for identifying internal threat actors

Potential impacts and likelihoods of threats exploiting vulnerabilities are identified and recorded

Business leaders and cybersecurity risk management practitioners work together to estimate the likelihood and impact of risk scenarios and record them in risk registers

Enumerate the potential business impacts of unauthorized access to the organization's communications, systems, and data processed in or by those systems

Account for the potential impacts of cascading failures for systems of systems

Threats, vulnerabilities, likelihoods, and impacts are used to understand inherent risk and inform risk response prioritization

Develop threat models to better understand risks to the data and identify appropriate risk responses

Prioritize cybersecurity resource allocations and investments based on estimated likelihoods and impacts

Risk responses are chosen, prioritized, planned, tracked, and communicated

Apply the vulnerability management plan's criteria for deciding whether to accept, transfer, mitigate, or avoid risk

Apply the vulnerability management plan's criteria for selecting compensating controls to mitigate risk

Track the progress of risk response implementation (e.g., plan of action and milestones (POA&M), risk register, risk detail report)

Use risk assessment findings to inform risk response decisions and actions

Communicate planned risk responses to affected stakeholders in priority order

Changes and exceptions are managed, assessed for risk impact, recorded, and tracked

Implement and follow procedures for the formal documentation, review, testing, and approval of proposed changes and requested exceptions

Document the possible risks of making or not making each proposed change, and provide guidance on rolling back changes

Document the risks related to each requested exception and the plan for responding to those risks

Periodically review risks that were accepted based upon planned future actions or milestones

Processes for receiving, analyzing, and responding to vulnerability disclosures are established

Conduct vulnerability information sharing between the organization and its suppliers following the rules and protocols defined in contracts

Assign responsibilities and verify the execution of procedures for processing, analyzing the impact of, and responding to cybersecurity threat, vulnerability, or incident disclosures by suppliers, customers, partners, and government cybersecurity organizations

The authenticity and integrity of hardware and software are assessed prior to acquisition and use

Assess the authenticity and cybersecurity of critical technology products and services prior to acquisition and use

Critical suppliers are assessed prior to acquisition

Conduct supplier risk assessments against business and applicable cybersecurity requirements, including the supply chain

Identities and credentials for authorized users, services, and hardware are managed by the organization

Initiate requests for new access or additional access for employees, contractors, and others, and track, review, and fulfill the requests, with permission from system or data owners when needed

Issue, manage, and revoke cryptographic certificates and identity tokens, cryptographic keys (i.e., key management), and other credentials

Select a unique identifier for each device from immutable hardware characteristics or an identifier securely provisioned to the device

Physically label authorized hardware with an identifier for inventory and servicing purposes

Identities are proofed and bound to credentials based on the context of interactions

Verify a person's claimed identity at enrollment time using government-issued identity credentials (e.g., passport, visa, driver's license)

Issue a different credential for each person (i.e., no credential sharing)

Users, services, and hardware are authenticated

Require multifactor authentication

Enforce policies for the minimum strength of passwords, PINs, and similar authenticators

Periodically reauthenticate users, services, and hardware based on risk (e.g., in zero trust architectures)

Ensure that authorized personnel can access accounts essential for protecting safety under emergency conditions

Identity assertions are protected, conveyed, and verified

Protect identity assertions that are used to convey authentication and user information through single sign-on systems

Protect identity assertions that are used to convey authentication and user information between federated systems

Implement standards-based approaches for identity assertions in all contexts, and follow all guidance for the generation (e.g., data models, metadata), protection (e.g., digital signing, encryption), and verification (e.g., signature validation) of identity assertions

Access permissions, entitlements, and authorizations are defined in a policy, managed, enforced, and reviewed, and incorporate the principles of least privilege and separation of duties

Review logical and physical access privileges periodically and whenever someone changes roles or leaves the organization, and promptly rescind privileges that are no longer needed

Take attributes of the requester and the requested resource into account for authorization decisions (e.g., geolocation, day/time, requester endpoint's cyber health)

Restrict access and privileges to the minimum necessary (e.g., zero trust architecture)

Periodically review the privileges associated with critical business functions to confirm proper separation of duties

Physical access to assets is managed, monitored, and enforced commensurate with risk

Use security guards, security cameras, locked entrances, alarm systems, and other physical controls to monitor facilities and restrict access

Employ additional physical security controls for areas that contain high-risk assets

Escort guests, vendors, and other third parties within areas that contain business-critical assets

Personnel are provided with awareness and training so that they possess the knowledge and skills to perform general tasks with cybersecurity risks in mind

Provide basic cybersecurity awareness and training to employees, contractors, partners, suppliers, and all other users of the organization's non-public resources

Train personnel to recognize social engineering attempts and other common attacks, report attacks and suspicious activity, comply with acceptable use policies, and perform basic cyber hygiene tasks (e.g., patching software, choosing passwords, protecting credentials)

Explain the consequences of cybersecurity policy violations, both to individual users and the organization as a whole

Periodically assess or test users on their understanding of basic cybersecurity practices

Require annual refreshers to reinforce existing practices and introduce new practices

Individuals in specialized roles are provided with awareness and training so that they possess the knowledge and skills to perform relevant tasks with cybersecurity risks in mind

Identify the specialized roles within the organization that require additional cybersecurity training, such as physical and cybersecurity personnel, finance personnel, senior leadership, and anyone with access to business-critical data

Provide role-based cybersecurity awareness and training to all those in specialized roles, including contractors, partners, suppliers, and other third parties

Periodically assess or test users on their understanding of cybersecurity practices for their specialized roles

Require annual refreshers to reinforce existing practices and introduce new practices

The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data-at-rest are protected

Use encryption, digital signatures, and cryptographic hashes to protect the confidentiality and integrity of stored data in files, databases, virtual machine disk images, container images, and other resources

Use full disk encryption to protect data stored on user endpoints

Confirm the integrity of software by validating signatures

Restrict the use of removable media to prevent data exfiltration

Physically secure removable media containing unencrypted sensitive information, such as within locked offices or file cabinets

The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data-in-transit are protected

Use encryption, digital signatures, and cryptographic hashes to protect the confidentiality and integrity of network communications

Automatically encrypt or block outbound emails and other communications that contain sensitive data, depending on the data classification

Block access to personal email, file sharing, file storage services, and other personal communications applications and services from organizational systems and networks

Prevent reuse of sensitive data from production environments (e.g., customer records) in development, testing, and other non-production environments

The confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data-in-use are protected

Remove data that must remain confidential (e.g., from processors and memory) as soon as it is no longer needed

Protect data in use from access by other users and processes of the same platform

Backups of data are created, protected, maintained, and tested

Continuously back up critical data in near-real-time, and back up other data frequently at agreed-upon schedules

Test backups and restores for all types of data sources at least annually

Securely store some backups offline and offsite so that an incident or disaster will not damage them

Enforce geographic separation and geolocation restrictions for data backup storage

Networks and environments are protected from unauthorized logical access and usage

Logically segment organization networks and cloud-based platforms according to trust boundaries and platform types (e.g., IT, IoT, OT, mobile, guests), and permit required communications only between segments

Logically segment organization networks from external networks, and permit only necessary communications to enter the organization's networks from the external networks

Implement zero trust architectures to restrict network access to each resource to the minimum necessary

Check the cyber health of endpoints before allowing them to access and use production resources

The organization's technology assets are protected from environmental threats

Protect organizational equipment from known environmental threats, such as flooding, fire, wind, and excessive heat and humidity

Include protection from environmental threats and provisions for adequate operating infrastructure in requirements for service providers that operate systems on the organization's behalf

Mechanisms are implemented to achieve resilience requirements in normal and adverse situations

Avoid single points of failure in systems and infrastructure

Use load balancing to increase capacity and improve reliability

Use high-availability components like redundant storage and power supplies to improve system reliability

Adequate resource capacity to ensure availability is maintained

Monitor usage of storage, power, compute, network bandwidth, and other resources

Forecast future needs, and scale resources accordingly

Configuration management practices are established and applied

Establish, test, deploy, and maintain hardened baselines that enforce the organization's cybersecurity policies and provide only essential capabilities (i.e., principle of least functionality)

Review all default configuration settings that may potentially impact cybersecurity when installing or upgrading software

Monitor implemented software for deviations from approved baselines

Software is maintained, replaced, and removed commensurate with risk

Perform routine and emergency patching within the timeframes specified in the vulnerability management plan

Update container images, and deploy new container instances to replace rather than update existing instances

Replace end-of-life software and service versions with supported, maintained versions

Uninstall and remove unauthorized software and services that pose undue risks

Uninstall and remove any unnecessary software components (e.g., operating system utilities) that attackers might misuse

Define and implement plans for software and service end-of-life maintenance support and obsolescence

Hardware is maintained, replaced, and removed commensurate with risk

Replace hardware when it lacks needed security capabilities or when it cannot support software with needed security capabilities

Define and implement plans for hardware end-of-life maintenance support and obsolescence

Perform hardware disposal in a secure, responsible, and auditable manner

Log records are generated and made available for continuous monitoring

Configure all operating systems, applications, and services (including cloud-based services) to generate log records

Configure log generators to securely share their logs with the organization's logging infrastructure systems and services

Configure log generators to record the data needed by zero-trust architectures

Installation and execution of unauthorized software are prevented

When risk warrants it, restrict software execution to permitted products only or deny the execution of prohibited and unauthorized software

Verify the source of new software and the software's integrity before installing it

Configure platforms to use only approved DNS services that block access to known malicious domains

Configure platforms to allow the installation of organization-approved software only

Secure software development practices are integrated, and their performance is monitored throughout the software development life cycle

Protect all components of organization-developed software from tampering and unauthorized access

Secure all software produced by the organization, with minimal vulnerabilities in their releases

Maintain the software used in production environments, and securely dispose of software once it is no longer needed

Potentially adverse events are analyzed to better understand associated activities

Use security information and event management (SIEM) or other tools to continuously monitor log events for known malicious and suspicious activity

Utilize up-to-date cyber threat intelligence in log analysis tools to improve detection accuracy and characterize threat actors, their methods, and indicators of compromise

Regularly conduct manual reviews of log events for technologies that cannot be sufficiently monitored through automation

Use log analysis tools to generate reports on their findings

Information is correlated from multiple sources

Constantly transfer log data generated by other sources to a relatively small number of log servers

Use event correlation technology (e.g., SIEM) to collect information captured by multiple sources

Utilize cyber threat intelligence to help correlate events among log sources

The estimated impact and scope of adverse events are understood

Use SIEMs or other tools to estimate impact and scope, and review and refine the estimates

A person creates their own estimates of impact and scope

Information on adverse events is provided to authorized staff and tools

Use cybersecurity software to generate alerts and provide them to the security operations center (SOC), incident responders, and incident response tools

Incident responders and other authorized personnel can access log analysis findings at all times

Automatically create and assign tickets in the organization's ticketing system when certain types of alerts occur

Manually create and assign tickets in the organization's ticketing system when technical staff discover indicators of compromise

Cyber threat intelligence and other contextual information are integrated into the analysis

Securely provide cyber threat intelligence feeds to detection technologies, processes, and personnel

Securely provide information from asset inventories to detection technologies, processes, and personnel

Rapidly acquire and analyze vulnerability disclosures for the organization's technologies from suppliers, vendors, and third-party security advisories

Incidents are declared when adverse events meet the defined incident criteria

Apply incident criteria to known and assumed characteristics of activity in order to determine whether an incident should be declared

Take known false positives into account when applying incident criteria

Networks and network services are monitored to find potentially adverse events

Monitor DNS, BGP, and other network services for adverse events

Monitor wired and wireless networks for connections from unauthorized endpoints

Monitor facilities for unauthorized or rogue wireless networks

Compare actual network flows against baselines to detect deviations

Monitor network communications to identify changes in security postures for zero trust purposes

The physical environment is monitored to find potentially adverse events

Monitor logs from physical access control systems (e.g., badge readers) to find unusual access patterns (e.g., deviations from the norm) and failed access attempts

Review and monitor physical access records (e.g., from visitor registration, sign-in sheets)

Monitor physical access controls (e.g., locks, latches, hinge pins, alarms) for signs of tampering

Monitor the physical environment using alarm systems, cameras, and security guards

Personnel activity and technology usage are monitored to find potentially adverse events

Use behavior analytics software to detect anomalous user activity to mitigate insider threats

Monitor logs from logical access control systems to find unusual access patterns and failed access attempts

Continuously monitor deception technology, including user accounts, for any usage

External service provider activities and services are monitored to find potentially adverse events

Monitor remote and onsite administration and maintenance activities that external providers perform on organizational systems

Monitor activity from cloud-based services, internet service providers, and other service providers for deviations from expected behavior

Computing hardware and software, runtime environments, and their data are monitored to find potentially adverse events

Monitor email, web, file sharing, collaboration services, and other common attack vectors to detect malware, phishing, data leaks and exfiltration, and other adverse events

Monitor authentication attempts to identify attacks against credentials and unauthorized credential reuse

Monitor software configurations for deviations from security baselines

Monitor hardware and software for signs of tampering

Use technologies with a presence on endpoints to detect cyber health issues (e.g., missing patches, malware infections, unauthorized software), and redirect the endpoints to a remediation environment before access is authorized

Analysis is performed to establish what has taken place during an incident and the root cause of the incident

Determine the sequence of events that occurred during the incident and which assets and resources were involved in each event

Attempt to determine what vulnerabilities, threats, and threat actors were directly or indirectly involved in the incident

Analyze the incident to find the underlying, systemic root causes

Check any cyber deception technology for additional information on attacker behavior

Actions performed during an investigation are recorded, and the records' integrity and provenance are preserved

Require each incident responder and others (e.g., system administrators, cybersecurity engineers) who perform incident response tasks to record their actions and make the record immutable

Require the incident lead to document the incident in detail and be responsible for preserving the integrity of the documentation and the sources of all information being reported

Incident data and metadata are collected, and their integrity and provenance are preserved

Collect, preserve, and safeguard the integrity of all pertinent incident data and metadata (e.g., data source, date/time of collection) based on evidence preservation and chain-of-custody procedures

An incident's magnitude is estimated and validated

Review other potential targets of the incident to search for indicators of compromise and evidence of persistence

Automatically run tools on targets to look for indicators of compromise and evidence of persistence

Internal and external stakeholders are notified of incidents

Follow the organization's breach notification procedures after discovering a data breach incident, including notifying affected customers

Notify business partners and customers of incidents in accordance with contractual requirements

Notify law enforcement agencies and regulatory bodies of incidents based on criteria in the incident response plan and management approval

Information is shared with designated internal and external stakeholders

Securely share information consistent with response plans and information sharing agreements

Voluntarily share information about an attacker's observed TTPs, with all sensitive data removed, with an Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC)

Notify HR when malicious insider activity occurs

Regularly update senior leadership on the status of major incidents

Follow the rules and protocols defined in contracts for incident information sharing between the organization and its suppliers

Coordinate crisis communication methods between the organization and its critical suppliers

The incident response plan is executed in coordination with relevant third parties once an incident is declared

Detection technologies automatically report confirmed incidents

Request incident response assistance from the organization's incident response outsourcer

Designate an incident lead for each incident

Initiate execution of additional cybersecurity plans as needed to support incident response (for example, business continuity and disaster recovery)

Incident reports are triaged and validated

Preliminarily review incident reports to confirm that they are cybersecurity-related and necessitate incident response activities

Apply criteria to estimate the severity of an incident

Incidents are categorized and prioritized

Further review and categorize incidents based on the type of incident (e.g., data breach, ransomware, DDoS, account compromise)

Prioritize incidents based on their scope, likely impact, and time-critical nature

Select incident response strategies for active incidents by balancing the need to quickly recover from an incident with the need to observe the attacker or conduct a more thorough investigation

Incidents are escalated or elevated as needed

Track and validate the status of all ongoing incidents

Coordinate incident escalation or elevation with designated internal and external stakeholders

The criteria for initiating incident recovery are applied

Apply incident recovery criteria to known and assumed characteristics of the incident to determine whether incident recovery processes should be initiated

Take the possible operational disruption of incident recovery activities into account

Incidents are contained

Cybersecurity technologies (e.g., antivirus software) and cybersecurity features of other technologies (e.g., operating systems, network infrastructure devices) automatically perform containment actions

Allow incident responders to manually select and perform containment actions

Allow a third party (e.g., internet service provider, managed security service provider) to perform containment actions on behalf of the organization

Automatically transfer compromised endpoints to a remediation virtual local area network (VLAN)

Incidents are eradicated

Cybersecurity technologies and cybersecurity features of other technologies (e.g., operating systems, network infrastructure devices) automatically perform eradication actions

Allow incident responders to manually select and perform eradication actions

Allow a third party (e.g., managed security service provider) to perform eradication actions on behalf of the organization

Recovery activities and progress in restoring operational capabilities are communicated to designated internal and external stakeholders

Securely share recovery information, including restoration progress, consistent with response plans and information sharing agreements

Regularly update senior leadership on recovery status and restoration progress for major incidents

Follow the rules and protocols defined in contracts for incident information sharing between the organization and its suppliers

Coordinate crisis communication between the organization and its critical suppliers

Public updates on incident recovery are shared using approved methods and messaging

Follow the organization's breach notification procedures for recovering from a data breach incident

Explain the steps being taken to recover from the incident and to prevent a recurrence

The recovery portion of the incident response plan is executed once initiated from the incident response process

Begin recovery procedures during or after incident response processes

Make all individuals with recovery responsibilities aware of the plans for recovery and the authorizations required to implement each aspect of the plans

Recovery actions are selected, scoped, prioritized, and performed

Select recovery actions based on the criteria defined in the incident response plan and available resources

Change planned recovery actions based on a reassessment of organizational needs and resources

The integrity of backups and other restoration assets is verified before using them for restoration

Check restoration assets for indicators of compromise, file corruption, and other integrity issues before use

Critical mission functions and cybersecurity risk management are considered to establish post-incident operational norms

Use business impact and system categorization records (including service delivery objectives) to validate that essential services are restored in the appropriate order

Work with system owners to confirm the successful restoration of systems and the return to normal operations

Monitor the performance of restored systems to verify the adequacy of the restoration

The integrity of restored assets is verified, systems and services are restored, and normal operating status is confirmed

Check restored assets for indicators of compromise and remediation of root causes of the incident before production use

Verify the correctness and adequacy of the restoration actions taken before putting a restored system online

The end of incident recovery is declared based on criteria, and incident-related documentation is completed

Prepare an after-action report that documents the incident itself, the response and recovery actions taken, and lessons learned

Declare the end of incident recovery once the criteria are met