Strengthening Your Cybersecurity: A Comprehensive Checklist for Enhanced Preparedness

Legal Tech

In today’s digital landscape, cybersecurity is not just a technical issue—it’s a business imperative. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework provides a structured approach to managing and reducing cybersecurity risk. This article presents a practical checklist aligned with the five core functions of the framework: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover.

Identify

This function helps you understand your organizational environment to manage cybersecurity risk to systems, people, assets, data, and capabilities. It lays the foundation for effective use of the other functions.

Have you identified the critical assets and data that need protection?
Do you have an up-to-date inventory of all your hardware and software assets?
Have you identified and documented your organization’s cybersecurity roles and responsibilities?
Have you identified the external and internal threats and vulnerabilities your organization faces?
Are there specific regulatory or compliance requirements that must be met?
Have you conducted a risk assessment to prioritize security efforts?
How are user identities and access rights managed?
Do you conduct regular security awareness training for your employees?
Do you have policies in place with your employees related to cybersecurity?
Have you implemented any filtering on the content your employees can access on the internet?
Do you monitor your credentials for exposure on the Dark Web?
Are ethical walls in place to safeguard unnecessary internal access to data?

Protect

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

Are access controls enforced to protect sensitive data?
Do you have encryption mechanisms in place for data at rest and in transit?
Are security policies and procedures documented and regularly reviewed?
Are measures in place to ensure physical security of critical assets?
Do you manage and secure third-party relationships and supply chain risks?
Do you have endpoint security measures in place to prevent malware and unauthorized access?
Do you employ email filtering and content inspection to prevent phishing attacks?
Are you using MFA on all LOB applications, workstations, and network devices?
Are you using enterprise-level endpoint protection on your workstations and servers?
Is your endpoint protection monitored 24x7x365?
Do you have anti-spam/email filtering in place for all employees?

Detect

This function defines the appropriate activities to identify the occurrence of a cybersecurity event. Timely detection is critical to minimizing impact.

Are tools and technologies used for continuous monitoring of the network and systems?
Do you have intrusion detection and prevention systems in place?
Are security events and incidents detected and reported?
Are there anomaly detection mechanisms in place for identifying unusual activities?
Are processes in place for monitoring user behavior and authentication attempts?
Are you actively monitoring for indicators of compromise (IOCs)?
Do you conduct regular penetration testing and vulnerability assessments?
Are you monitoring your file storage to detect and prevent data loss?

Respond

This function includes appropriate activities to take action regarding a detected cybersecurity incident. It ensures that response activities are coordinated and effective.

Do you have incident response plans and procedures in place?
Is someone responsible for incident coordination and communication?
Can you quickly isolate compromised systems and contain incidents?
Do you have a documented communication plan for notifying stakeholders during incidents?
Have you conducted tabletop exercises or simulations to test incident response capabilities?
Have you identified legal and regulatory requirements that must be followed in case of a data breach?
How do you ensure evidence preservation during incident investigations?
Are measures in place to mitigate ongoing threats during an incident?
Do you have a documented mobile/BYOD policy?
Do you have a process in place to remediate vulnerabilities?

Recover

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

Are extensive backup and disaster recovery procedures in place?
Are frequent backups tested for recoverability?
Do you have a documented recovery time objective (RTO) and recovery point objective (RPO)?
Do you ensure that systems and data are restored securely after an incident?
Do you document lessons learned and are improvements made after each incident response?
Do you communicate with customers, partners, and the public after a significant cyber incident?
Are steps taken to address the root causes of incidents and prevent their recurrence?
Are insurance and financial recovery considerations integrated into the recovery process?
Do you log all information and events within your environment?
Are your logs and events monitored 24x7x365?
Do you backup your data both onsite and offsite?
Do you regularly test your data backup?
Do you have a defined data retention policy?
Do you have a defined incident response plan?
Are you currently able to obtain cyber liability insurance?

Conclusion

Cybersecurity is not a one-time project—it’s a continuous journey. By following this comprehensive checklist aligned with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework, your organization can build a resilient security posture that not only defends against threats but also ensures rapid recovery when incidents occur. Whether you’re just beginning to formalize your cybersecurity strategy or looking to refine existing practices, this framework provides a clear, actionable path forward.

Start by assessing where you stand today, prioritize areas for improvement, and take deliberate steps to strengthen your defenses. Remember, cybersecurity is a shared responsibility—engage your entire organization in the effort to protect what matters most.

Nathan Lee

Principal Consultant ORIGIN GRC