CIS Critical Security Controls (CSC) Compliance
ComplianceForge currently offers one (1) product that is specifically designed to assist companies with compliance to the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Critical Security Controls (CSC) - Digital Security Program (DSP)
Alignment Is Key – Enterprise -Class Coverage Of Leading Frameworks, Including The CIS CSC
The DSP is the most comprehensive document we’ve made and it is targeted for enterprise-class organizations that have a need to align to the following frameworks:
[click to download a product overview]
The DSP is a “best in class” hybrid that leverages numerous leading frameworks to create a comprehensive security program for your organization!
Our products offer coverage for these and other leading frameworks and requirements:
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NIST 800-53 |
ISO 27002 |
American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) Service Organization Control (SOC2) |
Digital Security – The Evolution Of Security
If you are reading this, you are likely familiar with how “IT Security,” “Information Security,” and “Cybersecurity” are used interchangeably by most people. However, these terms do have meaning and as you “peel back the onion” on terminology you will see that “Digital Security” is the new leading terminology to describe the entire security ecosystem. This term has evolved to be all-encompassing, since it addresses technology, information, physical security, privacy and safety.
Accelerating Your Business - Mapping Standards to Leading Frame Works
The DSP maps twenty-four (24) leading frameworks! This includes the most common statutory, regulatory and contractual requirements that are expected from a security program.
[click to see an example of the Excel content]
Safety Component – Taking Industrial Control Systems (ICS), Operational Technology & The Internet Of Things (IOT) Into Account
For years, the “CIA Triad” stood as the foundation for what a security program was designed to address – the Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability of both systems and data. That has now changed, since there are real-world safety considerations from Operational Technology (OT) and the Internet of Things (IoT). This has caused the evolution of the CIA Triad into the Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability and Safety (CIAS) model.
The DSP is designed around the CIAS model by adopting the best of leading security frameworks.
Fare More Than Just Policies & Standards – The DSP Comes With Mapped Controls And Metrics
The DSP comes with policies, standards, controls and metrics!
We even further broke things down to provide recommended key controls, KPIs and KRIs!
Important-Ready For GRC Tools - The DSP Comes In Both Microsoft Word & Excel Formats
The DSP is ready to import into your Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) solution, since it comes in both Microsoft Word and Excel formats. This makes the import from Excel easy. For many GRC tools, this provides you the ability to perform your customization and collaboration directly from your GRC portal.
If you do not currently have a GRC tool, but want to deploy the DSP from a user-friendly internal website, we can help with that. We offer a fixed-cost service to convert the DSP into an internal website using GRAV, a Content Management System (CMS). If that interests you, please contact us at support@compianceforge.com and we can provide you with more details on that option.
Demonstrating Value - The Never-Ending Security Struggle!
It is a simple fact that technology and cybersecurity departments are not revenue-generating. These cost centers must continuously demonstrate value to justify current and future budgets. While many boards of directors and executive management provide initial security budget funding based on Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt (FUD), there is an eventual need to demonstrate a Security Return on Investment (SROI). Without this return on investment, budgets are hard to justify and capabilities suffer.
The most common ways for a security program to justify budget needs is through metrics reporting. Arguably, COBIT 5’s Process Assessment Model (PAM) is the industry leading model for measuring process maturity. COBIT 5’s model is based on the well-known ISO 15504-2:2003 Capability Maturity Model (CMM) that uses six levels to describe maturity.
We avoided re-inventing the wheel and simply created an enterprise-class product that can help your organization rapidly advance its capability maturity to a CCM 4 level. The DSP can help your organization rapidly advance to CMM4!
Quick Win - Steps To Using The Digital Security Program (DSP) To Obtain CMM 4 (Predictable) Maturity
While nearly all organizations have “security policies” in place, it is a sad reality that many are outdated, improperly scoped, and inadvertently add to technical debt. Quite simply, most security policies were never designed to scale as the organization grows or technologies evolve and are more of a liability than benefit. If that is your organization, the DSP can be a “quick win” to dramatically advance the maturity of your security program.
The DSP is a different animal – it is built to scale and adapt to the needs of the organization. The modular nature of the DSP means that each policy has its own standards, all the way down to controls and metrics. This hierarchical nature makes mapping metrics to policies a breeze, due to the logical organization of the documentation.
Hierarchical Approach - Built To Scale & Evolve With Your Business
Similar to the Written Information Security Program (WISP) format, the DSP follows a hierarchical approach to how the structure is designed so that policies map all the way down to metrics.
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Policies are “high level” statements of management’s intent and are intended to guide decisions to achieve rational outcomes. Policies are not meant to be prescriptive, but provide an overall direction for the organization. |
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Control Objectives support policy by identifying applicable requirements that the organization needs to address. These applicable requirements can be best practices, laws or other legal obligations. |
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Standards establish formal requirements in regards to processes, actions and configurations. Standards are entirely focused on providing narrowly-focused, prescriptive requirements that are quantifiable. |
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Procedures are formal methods of performing a task, based on a series of actions conducted in a defined and repeatable manner. |
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Controls are technical or administrative safeguards that may prevent, detect or lessen the ability of the threat actor to exploit a vulnerability. |
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Metrics are designed to facilitate decision-making, improve performance, and improve accountability through the collection, analysis, and reporting of relevant performance-related data. |
Content is in Excel Ready to Import Into a GRC Solution.
Not just a Microsoft Word Document. Content is in excel and ready to import into a not just a Microsoft Word Document - Content Is In Excel and ready to import into a GRC solution.
While the DSP does come in Microsoft Word like the WISP, the included Excel version of the DSP comes with the following content so it is easy to import into a GRC solution (e.g., Archer, RSAM, MetricStream, etc.):
- Policy statements
- Policy intent
- Control objectives
- Standards
- Guidance
- Controls
- Metrics - including suggested Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) &
- Key Risk Indicators (KRIs)
- Indicators of Compromise (IoC)
- Indicators of Exposure (IoC)
- Target Audience Applicability
- Scoping - Basic or Enhanced Requirement
- Recommended roles / teams with responsibility for each standard (basically a RACI for key stakeholders)
[click to see an example of the Excel content]
Comprehensive Documentation – Coverage For Your Security Program's Needs
The DSP consists of thirty-two (32) policies. Nested within these policies are the control objectives, standards and guidelines that make your security program run.
The structure of the DSP makes is easy to add or remove policy sections, as your business needs change. The same concept applies to standards – you can simply add/remove content to meet your specific needs.
| # | Policy | Identifier | # | Policy | Identifier | |
| 1 | Digital Security Governance | GOV |
17 |
Information Assurance | IAO | |
| 2 | Asset Management | AST | 18 | Maintenance | MNT | |
| 3 | Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery | BCD | 19 | Mobile Device Management | MDM | |
| 4 | Capacity & Performance Planning | CAP | 20 | Network Security | NET | |
| 5 | Change Management | CHG | 21 | Physical & Environmental Security | PES | |
| 6 | Cloud Security | CLD | 22 | Privacy | PRI | |
| 7 | Compliance | CPL | 23 | Project & Resource Management | PRM | |
| 8 | Configuration Management | CFG | 24 | Risk Management | RSK | |
| 9 | Continuous Monitoring | MON | 25 | Secure Engineering & Architecture | SEA | |
| 10 | Cryptographic Protections | CRY | 26 | Security Operations | OPS | |
| 11 | Data Classification & Handling | DCH | 27 | Security Awareness & Training | SAT | |
| 12 | Embedded Technology | EMB | 28 | Technology Development & Acquisition | TDA | |
| 13 | Endpoint Security | END | 29 | Threat Management | THR | |
| 14 | Human Resources Security | HRS | 30 | Third-Party Management | TPM | |
| 15 | Identification & Authentication | IAC | 31 | Vulnerability & Patch Management | VPM | |
| 16 | Incident Response | IRO | 32 | Web Security | WEB |
Due Care & Due Diligence – Jump Start Your RACI For “Ownership” Of Standards
We went the extra mile to help create a basic RACI-type mapping that identifies both the target audiences, but also the key stakeholders for each standard. It is all customizable, since it is Excel, but it enables you to hit the ground running.
[click to see an example of the Excel content]
Accelerating Your Business – Mapping Controls To Metrics, KPIS and KRIS
Metrics are the bane of many cybersecurity professionals’ existence. Unfortunately, this is due in large part to poor program-level documentation. Without alignment with leading frameworks (e.g., NIST Cybersecurity Framework, CIS Critical Security Controls, ISO 27002, etc.), it is unlikely that an organization’s management will know the correct questions to ask when measuring performance. That is why the tired and generally useless metric of “how many port scans the firewall blocked” still exists in many companies. We want to help change that with the DSP!
The DSP provides you with usable metrics to prove the status of the controls, which in turn allows you to report on the health of your overall security program.
[click to see an example of the Excel content]