Cyberattacks continue to dominate the global risk landscape, with nearly 40% of organizations listing cyber insecurity as a top crisis threat for 2024. Enterprises in every industry urgently need to adopt reliable information security standards. In the United States, at least 30% of businesses have implemented NIST cybersecurity standards. What is NIST, and should your company choose this framework for infosec compliance?
What Does NIST Stand For?
NIST is the National Institute of Standards and Technology. This United States nonregulatory government agency is responsible for maintaining precise measurement standards, promoting technological innovation, and developing security guidelines for American organizations. In addition to its work in the physical sciences (nanotechnology, computer chips, telecommunications, etc.), NIST is best known for cutting-edge advances in cybersecurity, encryption, and risk management.
What Is the History of NIST?
The government agency now known as NIST was established in 1901 as the National Bureau of Standards. At first, its mandate as a national measurement institute centered on creating standardized weights and measures and providing traceable calibrations for businesses. Eventually, the agency became a de facto national laboratory for scientific investigation and a leader in information security standards:
- 1972: The NBS’s Institute for Computer Science and Technology initiates the development of cybersecurity standards through its computer security program.
- 1974: The agency releases IT physical security and risk management guidelines for mainframes and computers.
- 1975: The NBS releases guidelines for compliance with the federal Privacy Act of 1974.
- 1977: The agency creates a cryptographic algorithm called the Data Encryption Standard, designed to safeguard financial transactions, computer networks, and other sensitive systems.
- 1985: The Password Usage Standard is created, establishing some authentication best practices that are still used in modern cybersecurity frameworks.
In 1988, the NBS was renamed NIST. It partnered with the National Security Agency to develop up-to-date cybersecurity minimum standards under the Computer Security Act of 1987.
Notable NIST Cybersecurity Advances
Also in 1988, NIST released the groundbreaking Special Publication 500-153: Guide to Auditing for Controls and Security, which helped organizations build security controls into their computer systems.
Roughly 10 years later, NIST released the definitive SP 800-16: Computer Security Training Guidance methodology. Again in 2002, NIST released SP 800-48, a wireless security standard for Wi-Fi and Bluetooth technologies that was ahead of its time.
In the years following, NIST continued driving cybersecurity controls with guidelines for random number generation, personal identity verification, DNS security, IPv6 network deployment, and risk management.
What Is the NIST CSF?
Arguably, NIST’s biggest achievement for information security is the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. When businesses ask what NIST stands for, they’re often referring to the CSF. This comprehensive guide covers data security best practices, risk management, and organizational security standards.
Instead of a large list of specific controls, the NIST CSF is broad, adaptable, and objective-based. In other words, the framework starts by asking what your cybersecurity goals are, and then helps you develop the necessary policies, controls, and risk mitigation steps to achieve secure outcomes.
This makes it useful for organizations at any stage of cybersecurity maturity, even companies that are just beginning to build a GRC program. You can map NIST guidelines to healthcare, finance, critical infrastructure, manufacturing, aerospace, and other industries.
What Does NIST Compliance Involve?
The NIST CSF 2.0 breaks down cybersecurity into six core functions that are understandable by stakeholders at every level of your organization:
- Govern with an effective cybersecurity risk management strategy and policies
- Identify your cybersecurity risks and opportunities for program improvement
- Protect your data, assets, and systems with access control, security, and technology
- Detect vulnerabilities, compromises, and cyberattacks
- Respond to cybersecurity incidents promptly, mitigating risks, reporting failures, and analyzing results
- Recover by implementing processes to restore operations and maintain access to critical systems and data
NIST compliance means integrating these core functions and developing controls that are appropriate for your operations. All in all, the NIST CSF includes 22 categories and dozens of subcategories for areas such as continuous monitoring, risk assessments, and technology infrastructure resilience.
Which NIST Cybersecurity Framework Do You Need?
In addition to CSF 2.0, NIST has created specialized frameworks for protecting highly sensitive data. NIST SP 800 compliance involves best practices for different aspects of computer security:
- NIST SP 800-171: Rigorous cybersecurity standards for storing, processing, and transmitting controlled unclassified information
- NIST SP 800-172: Enhanced security controls that add to SP 800-171 for DoD contractors with CMMC 2.0 Level 3 access
- NIST SP 800-181: Guide to the NICE framework for building a capable cybersecurity team with clear roles and ongoing training
- NIST SP 800-35: Guidelines for implementing zero trust architecture and processes
- NIST SP 800-39: A leading risk management framework for information security
- NIST SP 800-53: An organizational framework for data privacy, integrity, and access control
The right NIST framework depends on your industry, network complexity, customer requirements, and risk profile. IT departments should compare NIST 800-53 vs. 800-171 when developing information security management systems.
What Organizations Use NIST?
Despite its versatile focus, the NIST CSF covers a complete range of cybersecurity standards for modern enterprises. NIST compliance can help any organization improve risk assessments, IT infrastructure design, threat detection, and breach response programs.
NIST controls map to other cybersecurity frameworks, which means you can start with NIST CSF compliance while building program maturity and employee adoption. Many organizations pursuing ISO 27001 certification follow this route.
Is NIST Compliance Mandatory or Voluntary?
Compliance with the NIST CSF is voluntary. It provides a helpful baseline for companies of every size, but it’s not required by any government or industry regulations. Also, unlike ISO 27001 or the HITRUST CSF, there’s no pathway to NIST CSF certification.
On the other hand, compliance with certain NIST SP frameworks is mandatory. Contractors that work for the Department of Defense (or companies in the DoD supply chain) must meet NIST SP 800-171 specifications at a minimum. For CMMC 2.0 Level 3 certification, contractors must be fully compliant with NIST SP 800-172.
What Does NIST Mean for Your Organization?
The flexibility of NIST standards maps well to other frameworks. This lets you create a customized framework that fits your unique environment, data infrastructure, regulatory compliance needs, and cyber risks. With the help of compliance solutions like Compyl, NIST can be an ideal choice for organizational cybersecurity. Contact us today to learn more.
