Cybersecurity is an ever-evolving field, and as technology advances, so do the threats that businesses face. This is particularly true in Africa, where the use of technology is growing rapidly, and cybercriminals are taking advantage of vulnerabilities to launch attacks on businesses of all sizes.
As a distributor of cybersecurity solutions in Africa, we at CyberHub Africa are committed to helping businesses protect themselves against these threats. In this blog post, we’ll explore the importance of NIST Compliance for MSPs and MSSPs and how Webroot’s solutions tie in with NIST guidelines.
Compliance with NIST cybersecurity standards is a smart idea for strengthening your data architecture for avoiding and responding to data breaches and attacks.
You eliminate a lot of the uncertainty surrounding how you're going to maintain your IT systems secure by incorporating NIST best practices into your own internal operations. In today's technology-based society, things like giving personnel thorough training and laying up a clear contingency plan are essential, and the NIST 800-53 goes into great length on these topics.
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework provides a comprehensive approach to managing and reducing cyber risks. It consists of five core functions:
Identify
Protect
Detect
Respond
Recover
Webroot’s solutions can help in a number of these components allowing our Channel partners and their clients to implement a robust cybersecurity strategy that addresses areas of a business.
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework has significant implications for MSPs that offer cybersecurity services to their clients. Achieving NIST compliance is a journey for MSPs, regardless of whether they are just starting out or have an established business. Here are some key points to keep in mind for MSPs embarking on this journey:
1. Understanding the NIST Framework: MSPs need to have deep understanding of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, its core functions, and how it can be applied to different businesses. By doing so, you can help your clients assess their currently cybersecurity posture, identify areas of improvement, and develop a customised cybersecurity strategy that aligns with the framework.
2. Meeting Compliance Requirements: Numerous African businesses are required to follow various cybersecurity laws and standards, like HIPAA, PCI-DSS, GDPR and POPIA. To comply with these regulations, a strong foundation, such as the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, could be employed. Managed Service Providers (MSPs) can support their clients in understanding these laws and implementing the essential controls to meet the requirements.
3. Providing a Comprehensive Approach: MSPs are in a good position to assist their clients in enhancing their cybersecurity posture and reducing the risk of cyberattacks if they provide a holistic approach to cybersecurity that incorporates all five key NIST Cybersecurity Framework functions. MSPs can serve as a one-stop shop for all their clients' cybersecurity needs by providing a variety of services, from risk assessments to incident response.
4. Enhancing Cyber Resilience: The NIST Cybersecurity Framework emphasizes the importance of cyber resilience, which is the ability to withstand, respond to, and recover from cyber-attacks. MSPs can help their clients enhance their cyber resilience by implementing controls and processes that address all five core functions of the framework, such as identifying and mitigating risks, detecting, and responding to threats, and recovering from cyber incidents.
Webroot’s Endpoint Protection, DNS Protection, and Security Awareness Training can help address several of these components of NIST Cybersecurity Framework.
The “Protect” component plays a proactive part, Webroot stop a potential cybersecurity event. This can be achieved by testing and educating end-users so they can recognise and avoid various cybersecurity threats. Webroot can protect devices and networks by filtering all DNS requests and stopping malware at the domain layer, so it never reaches the network(s). Plus, with their multi-vector endpoint protection, they can protect users and devices from different vectors of attack, browsers, USB, keyloggers, and more in real-time.
To meet the ‘Detect’ part of the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, organisations need to implement solutions that can identify potential cybersecurity events accurately and quickly. Webroot’s Endpoint Protection provides real-time protection against known and unknown threats by using advanced threat intelligence and machine learning algorithms. The solution monitors endpoint activity and evasion shields for known threats and behavioral analysis and monitoring. Webroot’s Endpoint Protection also provides threat hunting capabilities, journaling, and auto-remediation to respond to unknown (zero day) threats, enabling organisations to proactively search for potential threats and quickly respond to and remediate threats that have been identified.
Webroot’s Endpoint