What are CIS controls?
The Center for Internet Security (CIS) controls, formerly known as SANS Top 20, are a set of best practices and guidelines for enhancing an organization’s cybersecurity posture. These controls are designed to help organizations protect against various cyber threats and vulnerabilities. The CIS controls provide a prioritized approach to improving cybersecurity defenses and are based on real-world threats and attack techniques.
The CIS controls are organized into three implementation groups:
Basic CIS controls: These are fundamental security measures that all organizations should implement to establish a strong cybersecurity foundation.
Foundational CIS controls: These controls build upon the basic controls and provide additional protections for an organization.
Organizational CIS controls: These controls are more advanced and are designed for organizations with more mature security programs.
The goal of implementing CIS controls is to reduce an organization’s attack surface, prevent and detect cyber threats, and respond effectively to security incidents. These controls cover a wide range of security areas, including asset management, access control, data protection, and incident response.
Advantages of CIS controls
Certainly, here are the key advantages of implementing CIS controls:
Enhanced cybersecurity: It strengthens an organization’s defenses against cyber threats.
Reduced attack surface: It identifies and mitigates vulnerabilities to minimize attack opportunities.
Real-world relevance: It is based on actual threats and attack techniques.
Customization: It is adaptable to an organization’s technology stack.
Continuous updates: It regularly updates to address evolving threats.
Compliance support: It assists with regulatory compliance and security audits.
Risk reduction: Lowering the risk of security incidents and data breaches.
By following the CIS controls, organizations can significantly improve their security posture and better defend against cyberattacks and data breaches. The controls are regularly updated to address emerging threats and vulnerabilities in the ever-evolving cybersecurity landscape.
Example of CIS controls
The Center for Internet Security (CIS) provides detailed guidance on implementing the CIS controls, which includes specific recommendations, best practices, and configurations for various aspects of cybersecurity. These recommendations can involve configuration changes, software installations, and other security measures.
Here’s an example of one of the CIS controls, along with a basic implementation guideline:
Description
It proactively oversees (inventory, monitor, and rectify) all hardware devices within the network to ensure that only authorized devices are granted access while identifying and blocking unauthorized and unmanaged devices from gaining entry.
Implementation
In a corporate environment, we can implement this control by using network scanning tools to discover and catalog all connected devices. This can involve software solutions that actively scan the network, identify devices, and check them against an inventory database. Unauthorized or unmanaged devices can be detected and flagged for further investigation or restricted network access.
Note: Please note that the actual implementation may involve various security tools, scripts, and configurations based on the organization's specific needs and technology stack.
Test yourself!
What is the primary purpose of CIS controls?
To facilitate software development.
To enhance an organization’s cybersecurity posture.
To improve network speed and performance.
To promote cloud computing adoption.
