Organizations are facing an onslaught of cyber threats and risks to their business. To effectively manage these threats, businesses rely on cyber threat assessments. These assessments identify vulnerabilities within an organization’s IT infrastructure and data security posture. However, translating the findings of a cyber threat assessment into actionable insights can be challenging. This is where cyber risk assessment tools come into play. These tools help organizations quantify the identified vulnerabilities and prioritize remediation efforts based on potential impact.
One prominent cyber risk assessment tool is the NIST cyber risk scoring tool. But what exactly is it, and how does it work?
What is NIST cyber risk scoring tool?
The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is a non-regulatory agency within the U.S. Department of Commerce. NIST develops frameworks and best practices to help organizations improve their cybersecurity posture. The NIST cyber risk scoring tool, also known as the NIST Cybersecurity Risk Scoring (CRS) Solution, is an internal cyber risk assessment tools used by NIST to assess the security and privacy risks associated with its own IT systems.
The NIST CRS offers valuable insights into how organizations can develop their own risk scoring methodologies. The NIST CRS assigns ratings to security controls based on their potential impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability (CIA). These ratings are then combined to generate an overall NIST score range for a particular system or asset.
Additional Resources
What are the 5 Cs of Cybersecurity?
What are the 8 main cyber security threats?
Cyber Security Risk Assessment Checklist
What tools are used for Risk Assessments?
What is a cybersecurity Risk Assessment Tool?
What is a NIST Risk Assessment?
What is cyber risk scoring?
Cyber risk scoring is a process of assigning a numerical value to the potential impact of a cyber threat on an organization, sometimes this is referred to as a security rating. This score considers factors such as the likelihood of a successful attack, the potential impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data, and the cost of remediation. By assigning a score to each identified risk, organizations can prioritize their security efforts and focus on mitigating the threats that pose the greatest potential harm.
The NIST cyber risk scoring itself is not a singular metric, but rather a methodology for assessing and quantifying risk based on the principles outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. This methodology involves identifying relevant security controls, assigning weights to each control (ranges from 1 to 10) based on its significance to overall security, and then evaluating the effectiveness of those controls within your organization. This can be helpful for NIST security and privacy assessment and authorization (A&A) processes, that many Federal and State agencies rely on. This can be translated into the NIST risk scoring matrix and the resulting score provides a snapshot of your risk posture, highlighting areas where you excel and areas requiring attention.
A higher cyber security risk score indicates a more significant potential impact from a cyber threat. Conversely, a lower score suggests a lower level of risk. Cyber risk scores are valuable tools for communicating cybersecurity risk to non-technical stakeholders within an organization, such as executive management and boards of directors.
What is a cybersecurity scorecard?
A cybersecurity scorecard is a visual representation of an organization’s overall cybersecurity posture. It typically includes key metrics such as the number of identified vulnerabilities, the percentage of patched systems, and the average time to remediate vulnerabilities.
Cyber risk score calculation is often a core component of a cybersecurity scorecard, providing a high-level overview of the organization’s risk landscape. The scale typically ranges from numerical values or alphabetic grades, with higher scores or grades indicating better cybersecurity practices and lower risk. The purpose of these scales is to provide a clear, objective, and consistent way to evaluate and compare the cybersecurity health of different entities.
FortifyData provides a security rating or cybersecurity scorecard, that is calculated based on a transparent methodology, based on assets confirmed as your organizations and reflects remediations in a timely manner. There is no margin for error when it comes to cybersecurity and employing a cyber security rating scorecard can help provide at-a-glance gauge on your program.
What is the security risk assessment tool?
The NIST CRS reflects the broader concept of cyber risk management frameworks. These frameworks provide organizations with a structured approach to identifying, assessing, and mitigating cybersecurity risks. Some popular cybersecurity risk management frameworks include NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), ISO 27001, and Factor Analysis of Information Risk (FAIR). FortifyData, a security risk assessment platform, helps organizations to automate and continuously monitor many of the components to determine thier cybersecurity risk- including direct assessments against specific risk management frameworks.
The NIST cyber risk scoring tool, while not a publicly available tool, offers valuable insights into the importance of quantifying cyber risk. By implementing a cyber risk scoring methodology within your organization, you can gain a clearer understanding of your risk landscape and prioritize your security efforts more effectively.
FortifyData cyber threat assessments are automated and continuous assessments of your organization giving you up to date findings on the latest vulnerabilities, threats and risks facing the attack surface of your organization, be it internal, external, cloud or third-party. FortifyData automates a lot of the steps and processes, incorporates templates and consolidates the cyber threat assessment tool capabilities you’ll read about below into one platform. Our assessments align with, and can supplement, annual threat assessments done by your team, external teams or consultants.
The FortifyData platform incorporates NIST Cyber Security Framework (CSF), NIST SP 800-53 and aligns with many other regulatory requirements for assessments, remediation and risk reporting. You will recognize their influence when it comes to assessing and analyzing the technological risks and vulnerabilities, calculating threat likelihood and risk adjustment criteria within the platform.
NIST Assessments with FortifyData
FortifyData streamlines compliance with NIST frameworks (CSF, SP 800-53, SP 800-171) by managing risk and offering built-in control assessments. Monitor progress towards NIST compliance continuously. Schedule a demonstration to see how FortifyData can help with NIST assessments for a positive NIST cyber risk score.
