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Cybersecurity Framework for SMBs

Implementing NIST Cybersecurity Framework Core Functions to Protect Your Business from Evolving Threats

NorthBridge Technology

Executive Summary

Small and medium-sized businesses face an increasingly complex cybersecurity landscape, with 46% of all cyber breaches impacting businesses with fewer than 1,000 employees. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides a risk-based approach to managing cybersecurity risk that is adaptable for organizations of any size. This whitepaper outlines how SMBs can implement the Framework's five core functions to build a robust cybersecurity program that protects critical assets, detects threats early, and enables rapid response and recovery.

28%
of small businesses have formal cybersecurity policy
Source: Source: Verizon 2023 Data Breach Investigations Report
93%
of companies without DR plans fail within one year after major data loss
Source: Source: Veeam Data Protection Report 2023
$2.66M
average cost save per breach of companies with tested incident response plans
Source: Source: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023

Understanding the NIST Cybersecurity Framework

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework provides a policy framework of computer security guidance for how private sector organizations can assess and improve their ability to prevent, detect, and respond to cyber attacks. The Framework Core consists of five concurrent and continuous functions—Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover.

Identify

Develop an organizational understanding to manage cybersecurity risk to systems, people, assets, data, and capabilities.

Protect

Develop and implement appropriate safeguards to ensure delivery of critical infrastructure services.

Detect

Develop and implement appropriate activities to identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event.

Respond

Develop and implement appropriate activities to take action regarding a detected cybersecurity event.

Recover

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

Source: NIST Cybersecurity Framework

1) Identify: Developing Organizational Understanding

The Identify Function helps organizations develop an understanding of their cybersecurity risks to systems, assets, data, and capabilities. This understanding provides the basis for managing cybersecurity risk.

Business Impact of Neglect

  • 43% of cyber attacks target small businesses specifically
  • Only 28% of small businesses have formal cybersecurity policies
  • Unknown assets create 60% of an organization's attack surface
Sources: Verizon DBIR 2023, U.S. Small Business Administration

NorthBridge Implementation Approach

Conduct asset inventory and management assessment
Establish business environment understanding
Develop governance and risk management strategies
Create risk assessment processes
30-45 day implementation

2) Protect: Implementing Safeguards

The Protect Function outlines appropriate safeguards to ensure delivery of critical infrastructure services. This supports the ability to limit or contain the impact of a potential cybersecurity event.

Business Impact of Neglect

  • 74% of breaches involve the human element (social engineering, errors, misuse)
  • 80% of hacking-related breaches involve brute force or lost/stolen credentials
  • Basic security hygiene could prevent 98% of cyber attacks
Sources: Verizon DBIR 2023, Microsoft Cyber Signals Report

NorthBridge Implementation Approach

Implement identity management and access control
Establish awareness and training programs
Deploy data security and protection processes
Implement protective technology solutions
60-90 day implementation

3) Detect: Identifying Cybersecurity Events

The Detect Function defines appropriate activities to identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event in a timely manner, enabling rapid response.

Business Impact of Neglect

  • The average time to identify a breach is 207 days
  • 68% of breaches take months or longer to discover
  • Organizations without detection capabilities experience 3x higher breach costs
Sources: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023, Mandiant M-Trends Report 2023

NorthBridge Implementation Approach

Implement anomaly and event detection capabilities
Establish continuous security monitoring
Develop detection processes and procedures
Deploy threat intelligence capabilities
45-60 day implementation

4) Respond: Taking Action on Detected Events

The Respond Function includes appropriate activities to take action regarding a detected cybersecurity incident, containing the impact of a potential cybersecurity incident.

Business Impact of Neglect

  • 77% of organizations do not have a Cybersecurity Incident Response plan
  • Companies with tested incident response plans save an average of $2.66 million per breach
  • 54% of companies say they're unprepared to respond to a cyber attack
Sources: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023, Cybereason Enterprise Security Study

NorthBridge Implementation Approach

Develop response planning processes
Establish communications strategy for incidents
Implement analysis and mitigation procedures
Create improvements process based on lessons learned
30-45 day implementation

5) Recover: Maintaining Resilience

The Recover Function identifies appropriate activities to maintain plans for resilience and to restore any capabilities or services that were impaired due to a cybersecurity incident.

Business Impact of Neglect

  • 93% of companies without disaster recovery plan fail within one year after a major data loss
  • The average cost of downtime is $5,600 per minute
  • Only 23% of organizations test their backups quarterly or more frequently
Sources: National Archives & Records Administration, Veeam Data Protection Report 2023

NorthBridge Implementation Approach

Develop recovery planning processes
Implement improvements based on lessons learned
Establish communications strategy for recovery
Implement 3-2-1 backup strategy (3 copies, 2 media types, 1 offsite)
45-60 day implementation

90-Day NIST CSF Implementation Roadmap

Days 0-30: Assessment & Foundation

Current state assessment and gap analysis
Asset inventory and risk assessment
Framework alignment and prioritization

Days 31-60: Core Implementation

Implement Identify and Protect function controls
Deploy Detect and Respond capabilities
Establish governance and measurement frameworks

Days 61-90: Optimization & Testing

Implement Recover function capabilities
Conduct tabletop exercises and testing
Refine processes and develop long-term roadmap

Research References

The following authoritative sources were referenced in this whitepaper. We encourage readers to explore these resources for additional information:

  1. NIST Cybersecurity Framework
    https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework
    The official framework providing a policy framework of computer security guidance.
  2. Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report (2023)
    https://www.verizon.com/business/resources/reports/dbir/
    Comprehensive analysis of real-world security incidents and data breaches.
  3. IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report (2023)
    https://www.ibm.com/reports/data-breach
    Global study analyzing the financial impact of data breaches across industries.
  4. Canadian Centre for Cyber Security
    https://www.cyber.gc.ca/en/guidance/cyber-security-small-and-medium-sized-organizations
    Government resource providing cybersecurity guidance for SMBs.
  5. Sophos State of Ransomware (2023)
    https://www.sophos.com/en-us/content/state-of-ransomware
    Annual report on ransomware trends, impacts, and recovery costs.
  6. U.S. Small Business Administration
    https://www.sba.gov/blog/cybersecurity-small-businesses
    Resources and guidance for small business cybersecurity.
  7. Microsoft Cyber Signals Report
    https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/security/business/security-insights/reports/cyber-signals
    Quarterly threat intelligence brief providing cybersecurity insights.
  8. Mandiant M-Trends Report (2023)
    https://www.mandiant.com/resources/blog/global-perspective-threat-landscape
    Annual report providing statistics and insights on the evolving threat landscape.
  9. Cybereason Enterprise Security Study
    https://www.cybereason.com/blog/enterprise-security-in-the-post-pandemic-era
    Research on organizational preparedness for cyber attacks.
  10. National Archives & Records Administration
    https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/initiatives/task-force.html
    Information on data preservation and disaster recovery statistics.
  11. Veeam Data Protection Report (2023)
    https://www.veeam.com/whitepapers.html
    Comprehensive report on data protection trends and practices.

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