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What is NIST and why companies should comply with NIST compliance?

If your company works in services which involve working with the US government then you are likely aware of the compliance requirements. You must also have understood that any sensitive data shared with your company by the government is expected to be stored using the highest security standards. This sort of information is often the primary target of hackers which makes it vital that you imbibe the thought of cybersecurity seriously.

What is this NIST and what does it do?

National Institute of Standards is the US regulating body which provides guidelines on matters associated with technology. One of the areas that they cover is Cybersecurity. NIST has outlined a series of standards to make cybersecurity efforts uniform especially for those who work closely with the U. S. Government. One of the prominent goals of NIST recommendations on cybersecurity is to help organizations align with the information act called Federal Information Security Act (FISMA). Many resources are offered to companies to comply with the policy while still working within appropriate cost boundaries.

Why should your company comply with NIST?

Now that you know what NIST stands for, it is important to know the “why” behind this compliance.

Non-compliance with the NIST standards can result in serious implications. If it leads to a data breach, it can lead to business risks and reputational risks. Some of the commonly seen implications of non- compliance with NIST are:

Loss in the business of the organization: A breach through your cybersecurity defenses can result in nefarious actors gaining access to internal systems and data. This could result in internal confidential information being leaked including client data. This would result in a reputational event and may end up leading to loss of customers.
Lawsuits or criminal charges: After investigation, if it is found that the data was compromised due to the organization’s negligence, the organization may be subjected to criminal charges as well as financial penalties. You might end up losing the ability to work with the government as well.
Productivity is affected: A significant cyber-attack that results in a breach may also affect the company’s productivity as detection, casual analysis and remediation take effort and time.

If reading about NIST is making you ponder, then we at Nuage can help you take a step in this direction. With the guidelines issued by NIST around the SP 800 series, we will work with your team to ensure your NIST readiness. We will also support your compliance training initiatives for employees. This would include support for documentation required for successful transformation.

Interested to test and transform the cybersecurity compliance framework of your organization, then contact us at info@nuagebiz.tech.