The EU’s Firm Stance on NIS2 Compliance and the Radiflow Approach

The clock is ticking irresistibly toward October 2024, the date when national Computer Security Incident Response Teams (CSIRTs) begin to police the new Network and Information Systems Directive, NIS2.  The European Union’s unwavering commitment to bolstering the cybersecurity of essential and important entities across its member states is sending a clear message:  NIS2 is not just the next set of regulations to be ignored. It is a new approach – with sharp teeth. With only seven months remaining until October, the race is on for organizations to align themselves with the stringent security demands that NIS2 fortifies with enforceable penalties for non-compliance.

Getting in Tune with NIS2

The journey to NIS2 compliance is fraught with complexities and challenges that extend beyond adoption of a few new policies and a certificate of compliance. This time, it’s different and for several reasons. First of all, a significant human obstacle stands in the way: the scarcity of qualified cybersecurity professionals not only slows down the compliance process but also places a significant burden on existing staff, stretching thin their capacity to meet the directive’s demands.  Second, one of the forthcoming demands of NIS2 concerns execution of regular and effective risk assessments, that will reveal vulnerabilities and calculate actual risk within their digital infrastructure. But traditional risk assessments are too tedious, time-consuming, and subjective to cope with NIS2’s demands for frequency and accuracy. Today, evaluations of risk are heavily dependent on assessor experience and perspective, resulting in a diverse array of outcomes and complicating the journey toward adoption of provable risk-reducing cybersecurity measures. Furthermore, the absence of a unified methodology for risk assessment, including specific mitigations, leads organizations to cyber investments that often yield little or no improvement to security posture.

What is needed is a repeatable data-driven risk management framework that (1) automates the assessment process without requiring human resources; (2) accurately evaluates risk without interfering with operations; and (3) guides the adoption of specific cybersecurity mitigation measures that, too, are measurable in closing security gaps and moving the organization inexorably toward NIS2 compliance and improved security posture.

Risk Management Compliance

Recognizing the critical need for a smart, automated processes, Radiflow simplifies the adoption of NIS2-compliant risk management. CIARA, Radiflow’s risk-management solution, significantly reduces the human labor and expertise associated with NIS2 compliance from risk assessments to subsequent implementation of cybersecurity controls. CIARA offers a repeatable and reliable means to not only comply with regulatory requirements but also to provide actionable insights into the effectiveness of an organization’s cybersecurity posture and to suggest the most beneficial mitigations.

Incident Reporting Compliance

The NIS2 compliance requirements do not end with risk management. A focus of attention is the mandate for robust and prompt incident detection and reporting mechanisms. These must ensure that potential breaches are detected. identified, documented, and communicated in a timely manner, often significantly quicker than many organizations’ current capabilities.

Radiflow’s threat detection system, iSID, offers automated detection capabilities that not only meet but anticipate the complexities of cyber threats in today’s interconnected world. iSID may be implemented centrally or remotely at individual industrial sites. In either case, it learns the behavior of the network including assets and communications. It establishes a “normal” baseline, from which deviations can be detected and examined for possible threats.

iSID automatically triages alerts (deviations from normal behavior) and organizes them for swift, effective handling with minimal human intervention. iSID helps security staff quickly identify real threats and incidents early in the process with clear and effective playbooks for remediation and rapid incident reporting to CSIRTs.

Radiflow for NIS2 Compliance Now and into the Future

Every day, we creep closer to the 2024 deadline. The message is clear: compliance is non-negotiable, but the path to achieving it doesn’t have to be fraught with uncertainty and high cost. With Radiflow, organizations have a partner who understands the nuances of NIS2 and offers effective solutions to meet the compliance challenge head-on.

Radiflow’s recipe for NIS2 compliance is a blend of innovation, precision, and foresight. As essential and important entities across the EU scramble to align with NIS2, Radiflow stands as a beacon of cybersecurity excellence, guiding the way with solutions that not only help them along their compliance journey, but set the standard for what cybersecurity resilience should be in the modern era.