Originally published Nationwide Cyber Security Review Sees Record Participation and Encouraging Results on by https://www.hstoday.us/federal-pages/dhs/nationwide-cyber-security-review-sees-record-participation-and-encouraging-results/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nationwide-cyber-security-review-sees-record-participation-and-encouraging-results at Homeland Security
Our nation’s state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) organizations continue to face increasing cyber threats, from both foreign and domestic actors. Artificial intelligence is quickly evolving, making it easier for cybercriminals to target government organizations and more difficult for those whose job it is to protect them. Therefore, it is crucial to conduct regular self-assessments to identify strengths and weaknesses and mature cybersecurity programs over time.
The Nationwide Cybersecurity Review (NCSR) is a no-cost assessment, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and conducted by the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center (MS-ISAC®). It is open to all U.S. public sector organizations at the state, local, tribal and territorial (SLTT) level. Using the results of the assessment, DHS delivers a bi-yearly, anonymous summary report to Congress, providing a broad picture of the cybersecurity maturity across the SLTT communities.
Nationwide Cybersecurity Review (NCSR) Findings:
The current NCSR saw a 14% increase in participation over the previous year, with over 4,210 organizations completing the assessment between October 2023 through February 2024.
Higher-scoring areas from the NCSR assessment included identity management and access control, awareness and training, environment monitoring, and incident mitigation planning. Lower-scoring areas included risk management activities, testing of response and recovery plans, and implementation of disaster recovery plans.
Some 79% percent of NCSR respondents stated they have fewer than five dedicated security employees, and 72% percent identified “lack of sufficient funding” as their top security concern.
SLTT organizations can look to strengthen their cybersecurity posture by implementing the following steps:
- Utilize federally-funded services from organizations such as the MS-ISAC and the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to establish performance of cybersecurity activities.
- Services include 24x7x365 threat monitoring and Malicious Domain Blocking and Reporting (MDBR).
- Establish consistent organizational review and testing of risk management processes, incident response activities, and disaster recovery capabilities.
- Create security policies and communicate the policy information to executives, employees, and third-party stakeholders.
- Report organizational cybersecurity metrics to management or executive teams as a means of justifying and prioritizing future cyber investments.
- Evaluate practices within a formal cybersecurity framework, such as the CIS Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls) or NIST’s Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), and plan for implementation.
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Originally published Nationwide Cyber Security Review Sees Record Participation and Encouraging Results on by https://www.hstoday.us/federal-pages/dhs/nationwide-cyber-security-review-sees-record-participation-and-encouraging-results/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=nationwide-cyber-security-review-sees-record-participation-and-encouraging-results at Homeland Security
Originally published Homeland Security