To discover cybersecurity vulnerabilities before they escalate into full-blown threats, your organization needs to follow the guidance of robust standards like the CIS vulnerability scanning requirements. These standards guide the implementation of effective threat and vulnerability management controls. Continue reading to learn how these requirements can enhance your security posture.
What are the CIS Vulnerability Scanning Requirements?
Vulnerability management is essential for mitigating cybersecurity risks before they escalate into serious threats that can compromise data security and disrupt business continuity. A thorough understanding of CIS vulnerability scanning requirements is crucial in this context. These requirements, detailed in the CIS Critical Security Controls, provide a structured approach to both vulnerability and patch management. They are designed to help organizations identify, manage, and remediate security vulnerabilities across their IT assets.
To effectively implement these controls, it is important to understand what the Center for Internet Security (CIS) is and how its Critical Security Controls can benefit your organization. Familiarizing yourself with the CIS vulnerability scanning requirements and the specific safeguards outlined in CIS Control 7 will enable you to establish a robust vulnerability management program. Partnering with a threat and vulnerability management specialist can further enhance your compliance with CIS standards, ensuring your organization’s cyber defenses are both effective and resilient.
What is the Center for Internet Security (CIS)?
The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a community-driven nonprofit established to help organizations protect their IT systems from common cybersecurity threats. CIS gathers knowledge from global IT security experts to inform its Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls), which are best practices for implementing industry-standard security measures. These controls are regularly updated to address emerging threats and provide organizations with actionable guidance to improve their cybersecurity posture. By leveraging collective expertise, CIS ensures that its recommendations remain relevant and effective in combating evolving cyber threats.
CIS Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls) and Implementation Groups
The CIS Controls are a framework designed to help organizations implement best practices to safeguard their IT assets from data breaches. The most recent edition, CIS Controls v8, includes 18 controls and 153 individual safeguards, distributed across three implementation groups:
- Implementation Group (IG1) – Basic cybersecurity practices for preventing non-targeted attacks.
- Implementation Group (IG2) – Controls for safeguarding IT assets from more complex security risks.
- Implementation Group (IG3) – Advanced controls for mitigating sophisticated cyberattacks.
Organizations must identify which safeguards best meet their unique security needs. CIS vulnerability scanning requirements are primarily housed within Control 7.
CIS Control 7 Requirements for Vulnerability Management
CIS Control 7 provides detailed requirements to help organizations manage and remediate security vulnerabilities effectively, ensuring a proactive approach to cybersecurity.
Requirement 7.1 – Processes for Managing Security Vulnerabilities
Compliance with CIS Control Requirement 7.1 involves implementing processes for vulnerability management across all enterprise IT assets. Key considerations include:
- Establishing a vulnerability monitoring framework – Identifying at-risk critical assets, classifying threat risks, and discovering risks that contribute to vulnerabilities.
- Developing threat intelligence tools – Using tools like open-source threat intelligence (OSINT) to identify threats, manage security risks, and guide incident management.
- Pen testing assets – Conducting penetration testing to detect security vulnerabilities before they become threats.
Requirement 7.2 – Processes for Remediating Security Vulnerabilities
CIS Control Requirement 7.2 mandates promptly remediating detected vulnerabilities. Effective remediation involves a plan of action and ongoing processes, often automated to minimize lapses in threat detection and mitigation. This includes continuous monitoring and regular audits to ensure that remediation efforts are effective and up to date.
CIS Control 7 Requirements For Patch Management
Effective patch management is crucial to maintaining the security and functionality of your organization’s IT assets. CIS Control 7 outlines specific requirements for managing patches for both operating systems and applications, ensuring prompt and efficient addressing of vulnerabilities.
Requirement 7.3 – Operating System Patch Management
Establish processes to automate patch management of operating systems on a routine schedule, typically monthly or as required by compliance regulations. Regular patching reduces security vulnerabilities and minimizes asset downtime.
Requirement 7.4 – Application Patch Management
Similar to system patching, applications running on enterprise assets must be patched routinely. Recommendations include centralizing patch deployment, standardizing processes, and testing patches before deployment.
CIS Control 7 Requirements For Vulnerability Scans
Protecting your internal and external enterprise assets is critical. Effective vulnerability scans leverage CIS vulnerability scanners, which use standardized classification schemes such as CVE, CCE, OVAL, CPE, CVSS, and XCCDF based on NIST’s SCAP standards.
Requirement 7.5 – Vulnerability Scans of Internal Assets
To maintain a robust security posture, conduct routine internal vulnerability scans at least quarterly. By using both authenticated and unauthenticated scans, you can identify potential vulnerabilities from both internal and external perspectives. Specifically, authenticated scans simulate an insider attack and provide a comprehensive view of vulnerabilities that an attacker could exploit with internal credentials. Conversely, unauthenticated scans simulate an external attack, identifying vulnerabilities that could be exploited without insider knowledge. When combined, these scans offer a holistic view of an organization’s security posture, ensuring the thorough examination and securing of all potential entry points.
Requirement 7.6 – Vulnerability Scans of Externally-Exposed Assets
Externally-exposed assets, such as public-facing websites, cloud services, and other internet-accessible resources, are often the first targets for cyber attackers. CIS Control Requirement 7.6 mandates scanning these assets at least quarterly to detect and mitigate vulnerabilities that external threats could exploit. The requirement specifies the use of CIS vulnerability scanners that adhere to the Security Content Automation Protocol (SCAP) standards. These standards ensure that the scans are thorough and consistent, providing reliable identification of vulnerabilities. Regular scans help organizations stay ahead of potential threats by continuously monitoring their external attack surface and implementing necessary security measures to protect against frequent and evolving cyber threats.
Requirement 7.7 – Remediation of Discovered Vulnerabilities
Remediate detected vulnerabilities promptly, using processes or tools defined in your remediation plan. This may include patching, switching off vulnerable assets, uninstalling applications, modifying configurations, or upgrading assets.
Ready to Develop Your Threat and Vulnerability Management?
Adhering to CIS vulnerability scanning requirements is crucial for identifying and mitigating cybersecurity threats before they escalate. These requirements provide a structured approach to vulnerability and patch management, ensuring your organization’s IT assets are secure. Thus, compliance with CIS vulnerability scanning requirements will help you secure your infrastructure from potential threats.
As an experienced threat and vulnerability management partner, RSI Security will help you optimize your vulnerability management processes to meet the standards recommended by the CIS and other security frameworks.
Learn more and start today by contacting RSI Security!
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