Merely saying that your organization or team has deployed a few measures in the name of cybersecurity is not enough. The purpose of these measures is to give your organization’s digital ecosystem comprehensive protection against constantly evolving threats. But if you don’t add various layers of security and continuously improve them, cyberattackers will eventually find a way to get in.
This is why you need more than just “cybersecurity measures”; your organization needs a systematic framework that measures and manages your cyber posture vis-à-vis the current risk landscape and tells you how secure your defences are, where they fall short, and what can be done to strengthen them further.
This systematic framework is what we call a cybersecurity maturity model.
In this article, we will delve deeper into this model to understand how to implement it.
What is a Cyber Maturity Model?
The harsh truth is that a cyberattack can hit you anytime, without any warning. That means you must be prepared to tackle it before it causes serious damage to your business, customers, or reputation.
But how do you tell that you are ready enough to tackle almost any cyberattack? That’s where a cyber maturity model comes in.
A cyber maturity model is a structured framework that assesses your current level of cyber-readiness. This assessment is not just about whether you have security tools or policies in place; it’s about how effectively your people, processes, and technology work together to prevent, detect, respond to, and recover from cyber incidents.
Simply put, it gives you a clear picture of where you stand in terms of your cybersecurity posture, what your strengths and weaknesses are, and how you can improve to better protect yourself from malicious attacks.
What are the Different Kinds of Cybersecurity Maturity Models That You Should Know of?
Not every company deals with the same kind of threats. That means the framework to evaluate and improve their security posture cannot be universal.
Over time, several cyber maturity models have been developed that help organizations measure where they currently stand and provide a roadmap for strengthening their defenses. Although these models might be different in their approach, they share a common goal— improving resilience against cyber threats.
Here are some of the most common cyber maturity models that you should know of:
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework
The NIST Cybersecurity Framework was first released in 2014 by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology. It’s now one of the most trusted standards for managing cyber risks. The idea is simple: it helps organizations figure out where they stand today, what gaps they have, and how to get better over time.
The framework was built on six core principles: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover, and Govern. Together, these principles cover the entire lifecycle of cybersecurity management, right from understanding what areas and assets need protection to implementing these measures, monitoring suspicious activity, responding effectively to incidents, restoring normal operations, and ensuring governance ties everything together. Apart from this, the institute also provides a 7-step process for leveraging its risk management blueprint, giving you a practical roadmap to implement in the real world.
Moreover, the latest update of this framework, NIST CSF 2.0, was released in 2023. This new version takes into account today’s threat landscape and addresses supply chain risks, vendor discrepancies, and most importantly, the need for stronger governance.
The Center for Internet Security (CIS) Controls
The other framework that organizations follow today is CIS Controls.
The CIS Controls framework follows a more practical approach to security. That means, instead of telling you what a sound security posture looks like, it tells you how you can achieve this by following specific measures that lower the risks of cyberattacks.
It focuses on 18 fundamental controls that cover almost everything about how to secure your digital ecosystem, including Inventory and Control of Enterprise Assets, Data Protection, Access Control Management, Account Management, and Security Awareness and Skills Training.
The Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC)
The third major framework is CMMC, which was created by the US Department of Defense (DoD). This framework is slightly different from the ones we discussed above. The CMMC framework is mainly meant for companies that work with the DoD and handle sensitive defense information. The point of this framework is to ensure that the contractors and their partners have a certain level of cybersecurity in place before they can do business with the DoD.
What is the First Step to Implementing Cyber Maturity Models?
Once you know which cyber maturity model best suits your organization’s needs, the first step is to run a baseline assessment. This assessment is basically about understanding where you stand and where you want to go from there.
In this kind of assessment, you compare your current security practices with the requirements of the model you’ve chosen. For instance, if you choose NIST as your standard model, make sure that you check how well your organization is performing across its six core functions we discussed earlier. Similarly, if you select CIS Controls, map your practices against the 18 control areas and see which implementation group you fit into.
Final Words
The point of this assessment is to understand your organization’s strengths and weaknesses and fine-tune your security strategy accordingly. So ultimately, it’s not about checking off a few boxes but about understanding the gaps in your security structure, addressing them, and building a cyber-resilient ecosystem. Once you get the hang of it all, it becomes a continuous process—you adapt to new threats, tighten your defenses, and strengthen your organization’s overall security posture.
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Hi, I’m Daksh Kaur, a freelance writer. I make cybersecurity a breeze for your clients by breaking down complex concepts into simple ones so that they can understand the risks and take proactive steps to make digital security a priority.
You can get in touch with me at daksh@turtlewords.com and explore how we can work together to create insightful and engaging content that converts.
