What is the NIS2 Directive?
The NIS2 Directive is a robust framework instituted to bolster the cybersecurity posture of EU member states, aiming at a resilient digital infrastructure capable of thwarting and managing cybersecurity incidents. This directive encompasses organizations vital to the European economy and society, mandating the implementation of risk management and incident reporting mechanisms.
Key compliance requirements
✔ Risk Management: Implementing measures such as enhanced network security, stronger supply chain security, better access control, encryption, and incident management to minimize cyber risks.
✔ Corporate Accountability: Ensuring corporate management is trained on, oversees, and approves the entity’s cybersecurity measures to address cyber risks, with an understanding of the potential penalties including liability and temporary ban from management roles for breaches.
✔ Reporting Obligations: Establishing processes for prompt reporting of significant security incidents, adhering to NIS2's specified notification deadlines like the 24-hour “early warning” requirement.
✔ Business Continuity: Planning for business continuity during major cyber incidents, including system recovery, emergency procedures, and setting up a crisis response team.
From NIS to NIS2
The initial NIS directive was a significant move towards enhancing cybersecurity within the EU, yet its execution led to a diverse implementation landscape across the member states. With the rise in cyber threats both in number and sophistication, the Commission revamped the directive into NIS2 to bolster security protocols, address supply chain security, simplify reporting obligations, and enforce stricter supervisory and enforcement measures. NIS2 simplifies entity classification into essential or important, extending its reach to include newer sectors like wastewater management, food, and space, encompassing all medium to large companies within these domains.
Addressing Vulnerability and Patch Management
One of the key items that the NIS 2 directive highlights is the importance and requirement for vulnerability assessment and patch management. Article 6 in the directive talks about a vulnerability registry containing information about vulnerabilities, products or services it affects, along with the circumstances. It then expands to talk about the availability of patches and the requirements for when there are no available patches.
GFI LanGuard can assist organizations in complying with NIS2. For over a decade, GFI LanGuard has been enabling thousands of businesses across the globe to manage and maintain end-point protection across their network, providing visibility into all the elements in their network, helping assess where there may be potential vulnerabilities, and providing the ability to patch them. The patch management and network auditing solution is easy to use and easy to deploy.
For a more detailed overview, we encourage you to visit the GFI LanGuard page. You may also request a Live Demo for a product overview and to help answer any queries you might have.
How GFI LanGuard can help
- Automatically discover all the elements in your network, including computers, laptops, mobile phones, tablets, printers, servers, virtual machines, routers, and switches.
- Scan your network for missing patches.
- Find gaps in common operating systems. Identify missing patches in web browsers and third-party software.
- Identify non-patch vulnerabilities by using a regularly updated list of 65,000+ known issues, as well as open ports and system information about users, shared directories, and services.
- Automatically deploy patches centrally, or deploy agents on individual machines.
- Control which patches you install and roll back any patches if you find problems.
- Install security patches not just to fix bugs, but to help applications run better.
- Run automated network security reports to help you demonstrate compliance with NIS2 and other requirements such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, ISO 27001/27002, and SOX.
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