Page 11 - TIME Newsletter 2018 in Review

The NIST

Cybersecurity

Framework

In the Fall of 2018, the newly formed IT Security
Department chose to follow the NIST (National Institute
of Standards and Technology - created under the United
States Commerce Department) framework. The Framework
is to assist us to be better prepared in identifying, detecting, and
responding to cyber-attacks. It also includes guidelines on how to prevent
and recover from an attack.

Using the Framework, it will help the District to better understand, manage,
and reduce its cybersecurity risks. It will assist us in determining which
activities are most important to assure critical operations and service
delivery. In turn, this will help to prioritize investments and maximize the
impact of each dollar spent on cybersecurity.

By following this framework, we can use this as a best practice in improving
our District-wide computer security.

There are five parts:

1. Identify - “Develop the organizational understanding to manage
cybersecurity risk to systems, assets, data, and capabilities.
2. Protect - “Develop and implement the appropriate safeguards to
ensure delivery of critical infrastructure services.”

3. Detect - “Develop and implement the appropriate activities to identify
the occurrence of a cybersecurity event.”

4. Respond – “Develop and implement the appropriate activities to take
action regarding a detected cybersecurity event.”

5. Recover -”Develop and implement the appropriate activities to
maintain plans for resilience and to restore any capabilities or
services that were impaired due to a cybersecurity event.”

Page 11