Expanding Cybersecurity Best Practices: NIST Announces New Governance Pillar for its Cybersecurity Framework

As cybersecurity threats continue to evolve in a digital landscape, organizations are grappling with the challenge of implementing robust security measures to protect their sensitive data and that of their customers. Recognizing this growing concern, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has recently announced a new pillar in its cybersecurity framework, aptly titled “Govern.”

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) provides a policy framework of computer security guidance for private sector organizations to assess and improve their ability to prevent, detect, and respond to cyberattacks. It’s a voluntary framework that consists of standards, guidelines, and best practices to manage cybersecurity risks. Traditionally, the NIST Framework has been built around five core functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. With the addition of the new Govern function, NIST aims to further strengthen these principles and place a stronger emphasis on governance in cybersecurity.

Understanding the Importance of the Govern Pillar

The introduction of the Govern pillar to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework marks a significant step in the development of comprehensive cybersecurity best practices. It highlights the importance placed on governance in the field of cybersecurity and further underscores the need for a shift in perspective from technology-focused solutions to an integrated approach that considers cybersecurity as an integral part of organizational governance.

The Govern pillar aims to help organizations establish and implement cybersecurity policies, procedures, and processes that are aligned with their business objectives and risk tolerance levels. It emphasizes identifying and prioritizing cybersecurity risks, implementing appropriate measures to manage those risks, and establishing a continuous process for monitoring and reviewing cybersecurity effectiveness.

The Impact of the Govern Pillar on Businesses

With the inclusion of the Govern function, the NIST framework sheds light on the importance of cybersecurity governance in business operations. The governance function, when used appropriately, can aid organizations in developing a comprehensive and effective approach to cybersecurity management. By incorporating cybersecurity into their overall governance, businesses can ensure a concise and consistent approach towards managing cyber risks, thereby improving their resilience against cyber threats. Therefore, the new Govern function can potentially lead to increased trust among stakeholders, strengthened credibility in the market, and enhanced protection of critical business assets and data, further fortifying the role of cybersecurity in creating a robust business environment.

By instituting clear and robust governance structures that guide the implementation of cybersecurity measures, organizations can ensure that security practices align with business objectives and comply with relevant legal and regulatory requirements. This can result in improved data protection and, by extension, enhanced customer trust, which can ultimately lead to better business outcomes.

Ultimately, the addition of Govern to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework signifies a pivot towards a more holistic and integrated approach to cybersecurity. It emphasizes not just on technological defenses against cyber threats, but also on the alignment of cybersecurity strategies with business goals and risk management. This can foster a proactive cybersecurity culture within the organization, which is critical in today’s complex and evolving digital landscape.

“Govern” as a Tool for Enhanced Cybersecurity

The Govern function of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework serves as a crucial tool for businesses to bolster their cybersecurity posture. With a strong emphasis on governance, companies can ensure that cybersecurity measures are not just tactically implemented but are also strategically aligned with the larger business goals.

By defining cybersecurity roles and responsibilities, setting clear cybersecurity objectives, and providing for continuous monitoring and assessment of cybersecurity risks, the Govern pillar enables organizations to embed cybersecurity into their governance structures. This can lead to a more organized and strategic approach to managing cybersecurity threats, thereby enhancing overall business resilience in the face of evolving cyber threats. 

The Importance of Privacy Considerations in the Govern Function

With increasing concerns over data privacy, it is crucial for businesses to ensure they are protecting the sensitive data they hold. The Govern function addresses this by emphasizing the need to incorporate privacy considerations into cybersecurity practices. In line with this emphasis, ‘Govern’ encourages businesses to adopt measures that not just protect against cyber threats, but also safeguard the privacy of customer and company data. This includes defining privacy-specific objectives, developing policies for data use and privacy, and continuously monitoring the effectiveness of these privacy measures. Through the incorporation of privacy considerations, the Govern pillar strengthens the overall cybersecurity framework, making it a comprehensive tool for data protection in an increasingly digital world.

The pillar advocates for establishing a privacy risk management program as part of an organization’s larger cybersecurity management plan. This includes conducting privacy risk assessments to identify potential impacts to data privacy, and implementing necessary measures to address these risks. With an emphasis on privacy considerations, the Govern function underlines the importance of this aspect in maintaining a robust cybersecurity posture. The Govern function, therefore, acts as a comprehensive guide for organizations to manage both cybersecurity and data privacy, underscoring the interdependence of these two areas in the digital ecosystem. It reminds organizations that effective cybersecurity is not just about technical defenses, but also requires a stringent governance structure that aligns with business goals and is capable of protecting sensitive information.

By fostering a proactive approach to managing cybersecurity and privacy risks, Govern reinforces the overarching objective of the NIST Framework – to enhance the security and resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure.

NIST’s Govern Pillar: Shaping the Future of Cybersecurity

The NIST’s Govern function signifies a transformative change in the domain of cybersecurity. With its focus on governance, the new pillar encourages businesses to adopt a strategic mindset that considers cybersecurity risk management as a pivotal element of their core activities. This heralds a departure from the conventional approach, which often views cybersecurity as a separate entity, isolated from the central business functions. The Govern function fosters better organizational alignment, driving security decisions that are not only technically sound, but are also congruent with the business’s goals and risk tolerance levels.

Particularly noteworthy is the fact that the NIST CSF’s new pillar accentuates a much-needed convergence of cybersecurity and risk management, which often operate in siloes. By aligning these two elements, businesses can gain a much clearer understanding of their risk landscape, thereby enabling them to make more informed decisions. The end goal is not merely to react to threats, but to proactively understand and manage them, and this could ultimately revolutionize the way businesses approach cybersecurity.

The Govern Function: Enabling Effective Cybersecurity Risk Management

The Govern pillar is designed to aid businesses in effectively managing cybersecurity risks. It places strong emphasis on proactive risk identification, thorough risk assessment, and appropriate risk mitigation, thereby enabling businesses to build a comprehensive cybersecurity risk management strategy. This will allow businesses to better prepare for potential threats, react effectively when attacks occur, and recover quickly thereafter. The function helps businesses to establish clear cybersecurity objectives, roles, and responsibilities, thereby ensuring that everyone understands their part in the cybersecurity risk management process.

Furthermore, the new pillar promotes the consistent review and monitoring of cybersecurity risks, thereby ensuring that businesses stay abreast of the dynamic threat landscape. This enables companies to be agile in their response to emerging threats and, ultimately, to enhance their business resilience. By integrating these elements into their business operations, organizations can ensure that cybersecurity is consistently aligned with their business goals, thereby reducing the potential of serious risk exposure.

Integration of Privacy Considerations into the Govern Function

With data breaches and privacy concerns dominating headlines and eroding consumer trust, businesses need to be more proactive than ever in protecting sensitive data. The Govern function addresses this by integrating privacy considerations into the framework. This encourages businesses to identify and manage privacy risks as part of their broader cybersecurity strategy. By advocating for the establishment of a privacy risk management program, the Govern function highlights the need for businesses to conduct privacy risk assessments and implement appropriate measures to safeguard sensitive data.

The importance of privacy considerations within the Govern function cannot be overstated. In today’s digital age, businesses that neglect to incorporate privacy considerations into their cybersecurity practices risk damaging their reputation, incurring regulatory fines, and losing customer trust. By actively managing privacy risks, businesses can not only enhance their cybersecurity posture but also build stronger relationships with their customers.

Kiteworks Helps Organizations Protect Their Sensitive Content in Adherence to the NIST CSF

The NIST’s new Govern pillar represents a significant advancement in the field of cybersecurity. Recognizing the growing need for robust cybersecurity governance, the Govern function encourages businesses to view cybersecurity as an integral element of their core operations. By embedding cybersecurity into the fabric of business governance, organizations can strengthen their security posture, manage risks more effectively, and enhance their business resilience.

In addition, the pillar’s emphasis on privacy considerations underscores the critical need for businesses to protect sensitive data. By enabling businesses to manage cybersecurity and privacy risks in a coordinated and proactive manner, the Govern function offers a strategic and comprehensive approach to safeguard against evolving cyber threats. Ultimately, the integration of this new pillar into the existing NIST framework provides a more holistic approach to cybersecurity, one that is likely to shape the future of cybersecurity best practices.

The Kiteworks Private Content Network, a FIPS 140-2 Level 1 validated secure file sharing and file transfer platform, consolidates email, file sharing, web forms, SFTP and managed file transfer, so organizations control, protect, and track every file as it enters and exits the organization.  

Kiteworks enables organizations to track and control all sensitive file and email data communications in a single NIST CSF-aligned platform. In fact, the Kiteworks Private Content Network is the industry’s first compliant and modernized secure file and email data communications platform built on the NIST CSF. Because Kiteworks aligns with the core tenets of the NIST CSF, businesses can identify and protect their most sensitive content by way of asset management, per the NIST CSF.

With Kiteworks, organizations control access to sensitive content; protect it when it’s shared externally using automated end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication, and security infrastructure integrations; see, track, and report all file activity, namely who sends what to whom, when, and how.  

Finally, organizations demonstrate compliance with regulations and standards like GDPR, HIPAA, CMMC, Cyber Essentials Plus, IRAP, and many more. 

To learn more about Kiteworks, schedule a custom demo today.

Additional Resources

• Case Study Jaja Finance Improves Content Security and Operational Efficiency Enterprisewide
• Blog Post 4 File and Email Communication Takeaways From the 2023 Verizon DBIR
• Case Study Hartmann Ensures GDPR Compliance by Protecting PHI While Enhancing Staff Efficiency
• Video Achieve Cyber Essentials Certification with Kiteworks: Protecting Sensitive Content and Meeting Security Standards
• Brief How to Achieve NIS 2 Compliance and Secure Your Content