Coming into force at the end of 2024, NIS2 is a far cry from its predecessor. Not only does it bring a wider array of businesses under its remit, but it carries severe financial repercussions for those who fail to comply. How can we best prepare? Cyber Fusion might have the answer.
At the heart of the NIS2 directive is cross-industry security information sharing. Whereas the previous NIS directive targeted essential services and digital service providers, version 2 expands to include all critical entities, ranging from public administration to transportation services to key research institutions.
The NIS2 directive also brings with it severe repercussions, with financial penalties for those who fail to comply, or maintain compliance. This broader industry inclusion and implementation of penalties demonstrates the EU’s commitment to improving cybersecurity, not just on the continent, but globally. It is key to note that the NIS2 regulations are not just placed on organizations within the EU, but on their global supply chains as well. So how can we make these commitments easier to meet?
VP of Security Technology at Cyware.
Getting NIS2 ready
NIS2 is the EU’s toughest cybersecurity directive so far so there is a deal of work to complete to become compliant. Several organizations have promoted a six-step process, focusing on understanding the scope; connecting with your relevant authority; performing a gap analysis; creating new and updated policies; training the right employees; and monitoring progress. This will enable businesses to track their supply chain for threats and vulnerabilities and remain on top of all risk management strategies.
There is also a heavy onus on reporting vulnerabilities and sharing key information on where threats arise and how they are handled. These changes aim to increase security across industries, better protect individual businesses, and ensure cybercriminals are unable to exploit the same vulnerability more than once.
The importance of collaboration
It is essential that businesses are not solely focused on their own, individual security: the security of an organization’s supply chain is just as important. Just one weak link in the chain can result in severe consequences for all if untreated vulnerabilities are exploited.
Sharing information on attacks and how they are managed within the supply chain also works both ways – if an organization in the supply chain discovers and remediates a threat, all businesses up and down the supply chain benefit. In the same way, sharing crucial information with competitors and other organizations in the same industry ensures all businesses can take a proactive approach to their cyber defenses against cybercriminals. Together, businesses can strengthen their industry through information sharing practices, while maintaining their competitive advantage.
Introducing Cyber Fusion
About three decades ago, military intelligence agencies introduced the concept of Cyber Fusion. Cyber Fusion is an approach that unifies all security functions such as threat intelligence, security automation, threat response, security orchestration, incident response, and others into a single connected unit. This unified approach ensures an information-rich environment for detecting, managing, and responding to a potential threat in an integrated and collaborative manner. The military leveraged this concept to collaborate with various intelligence communities and obtain an in-depth understanding of the threat landscape.
In the context of today’s corporate landscape, a Cyber Fusion approach unites a business’ individually siloed security teams, bridging the gap between the same teams referenced above. This integrated approach allows teams to work collaboratively, sharing information and tackling cyber threats much more effectively. At the same time, companies must look beyond their own estate and begin to share cross-industry, even with competitors in some cases.
Collaborating across entire industries and organizations is a complex undertaking. To comply effectively with the new NIS2 directive, organizations must employ models such as Cyber Fusion to better facilitate cooperation between businesses. A Cyber Fusion model on this scale would see security teams across businesses working together to share real time threat information and pool resources to remediate and secure vulnerabilities as efficiently as possible.
Ultimately, Cyber Fusion brings together different security tools and technologies, such as SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response), and threat intelligence platforms, into a single, unified system. This integration allows for better visibility and control over security operations, enabling automated threat detection; comprehensive risk management; improved incident reporting; and continuous compliance monitoring.
By integrating these capabilities, Cyber Fusion can significantly enhance an organization’s ability to meet NIS2 compliance requirements, ensuring robust cybersecurity and resilience against cyber threats. This collective defense approach is the stance organizations must take industry wide, putting Cyber Fusion into practice on a larger scale to not only comply with new regulations, but to ensure the industry is defended from any and all cyber threats. By bringing every relevant stakeholder together beneath a shared banner of purpose, companies can use Cyber Fusion to become safer, more secure and NIS2 ready.
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