Home > Cybersecurity Best Practices & Technologies

5 Key Elements of a Modern Cybersecurity Framework

Most organizations base their cybersecurity approach on an established model like the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework. The five key functions in the framework are:

  • Identify
  • Protect
  • Detect
  • Respond
  • Recover

The framework has to encompass your entire environment, including applications, users and data, and extend where necessary to your supply chains and value chains. A comprehensive, end-to-end framework will encapsulate: 

  • Endpoints
  • Networking
  • Multiple clouds (private, public and hybrid)
  • Servers/hyper-converged infrastructures
  • Storage
  • Data protection and recovery

To achieve best practices in all these areas, it is necessary to build your cybersecurity framework on an intrinsic foundation that provides automation, agility, resiliency, intelligence and maximum protection against attacks. 

This article discusses the five elements of a modern cybersecurity framework and aligns specific services from the Dell Technologies Security solution portfolio for each function within the NIST framework. 

Function No. 1: Identify. This function includes identifying physical and software assets; conducting a supply chain assessment and developing a supply chain risk management strategy; identifying security policies and asset vulnerabilities; and establishing a risk management strategy, including risk tolerances.

Dell Security solution portfolio: Asset discovery and access management; cloud security and compliance risk management; secure supply chain management; security assessment and business resiliency services.

Function No. 2: Protect. This function includes ensuring protection for identity management and access control; empowering staff through awareness and training; establishing data security protection consistent with risk strategy; implementing protection processes and procedures; protecting organizational resources through maintenance; and managing protective technology to ensure the security and resilience of systems and assets.

Dell Security solution portfolio: Hardware/firmware security; endpoint data protection; cloud protection for SaaS applications and hybrid workloads; cloud security and compliance risk management; network security and virtualization; data protection and security services.

Function No. 3: Detect. This function defines the appropriate activities to identify a cybersecurity event and enable timely discovery, including ensuring anomalies and events are detected; implementing continuous security monitoring capabilities and verifying the effectiveness of protective measures, including network and physical activities; and maintaining detection processes to provide awareness of anomalous events.

Dell Security solution portfolio: Threat and vulnerability detection and response; services for cybersecurity and managed detection and response. 

Function No. 4: Respond. This function supports the ability to contain the impact of a potential cybersecurity incident, including ensuring response planning processes are executed; managing communications; conducting analysis to ensure effective response and support recovery activities, including forensic analysis; conducting mitigation activities; and implementing improvements by incorporating lessons from current and previous detection and response activities.

Dell Security solution portfolio: Threat and vulnerability detection and response; services for managed cybersecurity and managed detection and response; cyber-incident response and recovery services. 

Function No. 5: Recover. This function identifies activities to maintain plans for resilience and restore any capabilities or services, including ensuring the organization implements recovery planning processes and procedures to restore systems or assets affected by cybersecurity incidents; implementing improvements; and managing internal and external communications during and after recovery from a cybersecurity incident.

Dell Security solution portfolio: Cyber-recovery consulting and managed services; cyber-incident response and recovery services.

Taking the Next Step
The portfolio capabilities discussed in this article comprise a wide range of solutions from Dell Technologies and VMware, including:

  • Dell Business Resiliency Services
  • VMware Carbon Black Cloud
  • VMware Workspace ONE
  • VMware NSX-T Data Center
  • Dell BIOS
  • Dell SafeID
  • Dell PowerProtect Cyber Recovery
  • Dell SecureWorks Managed Detection and Response

To find out more about how Dell and VMware can help your organization build and manage a modern cybersecurity framework that incorporates best practices for the five key functions—identify, protect, detect, respond and recover—please review the articles and resources on this site and visit Dell Technologies at www.delltechnologies.com/en-us/solutions/security/index.htm.

Networking
CIO
Enterprise Desktop
Cloud Computing
ComputerWeekly.com
Close