NIST SP 800-82 as the ICS OT Cyber Security Compliance Assessment
- ICS cyber security, ics security, nist sp 800-82
NIST SP 800-82 is a guideline standard published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) that guides how to secure the Industrial Control System (ICS) from cyber threats.
The importance of NIST SP 800-82 for protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring that any critical infrastructure that relies on ICS is protected from cyber threats. It helps organizations to comply with regulatory requirements and industrial standards. It also provides best practices for securing ICS OT environments, which can be applied across industries.
NIST SP 800-82 has gotten several updates from the beginning of its publication back in 2011. NIST SP 800 82 Rev. 1 was released in May 2011, NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 2 was released in June 2015, and NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 3 was released in September 2023. It has introduced updates and changes on each revision to reflect new security challenges, technologies, and best practices.
Using NIST SP 800-82 in an ICS OT cybersecurity assessment involves several key steps to ensure comprehensive evaluation and providing strategic control recommendations as part of a risk prevention and mitigation approach. Following is the simplified approach to using this standard in the ICS OT cyber security assessment activity:
1. ICS/OT Cyber Security Program
- Thorough assessment to capture the context establishment as the key for developing the custom ICS/OT Cyber Security Program
- Development of ICS/OT Cyber Security Program
- Awareness and training to install the ICS/OT Cyber Security Program within the organization
2. Asset Inventory and Criticality Management:
- Asset Inventory List
- Asset Criticality Assessment
- Asset Criticality Profile of each asset under the ICS/OT environment
- Asset Criticality Profile of asset mapped to the controlled process
3. Risk Assessment and Management:
- Risk Assessment against selected assets based on asset Criticality Profile
- Risk Security Posture of ICS/OT Environment
- Risk Register as the Master Document for action plan, deployment and continuous improvement
4. ICS/OT Cyber Security Assessment:
- Implementation of controls strategy based on the priority by using Risk Register as the Master Document
- Integrated controls strategy implementation that covers the three approaches of ICS/OT Cyber Security Assessment (Maturity Assessment, VA, and PT)
- Combine the three security controls categories (refer to NIST SP 800-82 and NIST SP 800-53)
5. Implementation, Stewardship and Monitoring:
- Re-assessment after the implementation of the controls strategy
- Performing periodic audits and assessments as part of the ICS/OT Cyber Security Life Cycle
- Stewardship as a common agreement to ensure the ICS/OT Cyber Security Assurance
The latest revision of NIST SP 800-82, which is revision 3, put an expansion in scope from industrial control systems (ICS) to OT, updating the OT threats and vulnerabilities, updating the OT risk management, recommended practices, and architectures.
The integration of NIST SP 800-82 Rev. 3 with the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NIST CSF) is one of the key differences of this version compared to the previous revisions. Here are the unique aspects of this integration:
- Unified Cybersecurity Management:
- Comprehensive Risk Management:
- Enhanced Security Controls:
- Incident Response and Recovery:
- Supply Chain Security:
- Continuous Monitoring and Threat Intelligence
For further reading regarding the highlighted updates on revision 3, please explore more on the following article: