How to get started with CIS Benchmark

Runecast Academy Series 2 – Part 4. How to get started with CIS Benchmark

CIS Benchmarks is a set of industry best practices for IT systems, software, and networks. Published by the Center for Internet Security (CIS), the number of CIS Benchmarks is now more than 140 in total, covering the seven core technology categories such as: operating systems, server softwares, cloud providers, mobile devices, network devices, desktop softwares and multi-function print devices. 

CIS Benchmarks are developed by a worldwide community of cybersecurity professionals who identify, develop, validate and promote timely security best practices within their areas of expertise. This way the benchmarks are fresh security hardening controls that will protect our ever-changing connected world. 

Each CIS Benchmark includes several reccomendations which fall under one of the two CIS Benchmark levels. Level 1 Benchmarks cover basic configurations. They have a minimal impact on business funcionality and are easy to implement. Level 2 Benchmarks cover configurations related to high-security environments. They offer a higher business functionality with minimal business disruption and require more effort in planning  and coordination to implement. 

CIS Benchmarks align with other security standards framework such as: NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) Cybersecurity Framework, the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) (PCI DSS), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), and ISO/EIC 2700. This means that if you have achieved CIS Benchmark compliance in your organization, and your company needs to be complaint also with any of the abovementioned standards, you are also almost compliant with all of them. As a result, any organization operating in an industry governed by these types of regulations can make significant progress toward compliance by adhering to CIS Benchmarks.

All organizations that want to maintain a secure environment, improve their performance and availability are recommended to be CIS Compliant. Compliance with CIS Benchmarks is not only crucial to your bussines infrastructure security but also paramount to future progress, as it is proof of your security from a prominent organization like CIS. 

Non-compliance with CIS Benchmark, especially for organizations that are governed by certain security standards, means that your environment is vulnerable and exposed to great risks. It can lead to costly fines — particularly in the event of a breach. If anything were to happen, heavy fines or financial loss due to the damage caused would burden your business, threatening the future of your organization. 

Challenges to CIS Benchmarks Compliance

Time-Consuming

No security standard comes to you easily. Each of them requires a lot of time to be implemented in your environment. This is the case with CIS Benchmarks. They offer a lot of rules for each IT environment and this is going to be challenging, as your team will have a lot of other tasks that need to be done on a daily basis.  

Lack of IT Resources

In the modern world, organizations need to be compliant with many security standards. Many teams are not able to fulfill all the tasks involved in the compliance process, as they need to stay on top of security audits, and most of them don't have the resources to implement all the suggested or mandated security standards. 

Different  IT Environments

The fact that most organizations operate in a complex environment is detrimental to the compliance journey. There are specific rules for each environment and this will make the compliance journey  even more difficult.  Checking all these systems manually and applying the required resolution to each specific rule puts the organization in an unfavorable position. 

Runecast

Real-time Security Analysis and Reports 

The compliance journey is difficult for most companies as it requires a lot of time as  IT resources have to scan and implement all the suggested configurations for a specific environment. Considering how laborious it is to stay on top of security standards compliance, and at the same time handle all the other tasks within an organization, we designed a simple solution that will ease your job for you: Runecast. Now with Runecast your organization will say goodbye to long hours of scanning and implementing security standard rules.

Runecast is a platform designed to bring the easiest solution to your organization. In a matter of minutes it scans your configurations and provides you with fit-gap analysis and  remediation scripts. With an automated process that will remove all the manual work, you can easily filter and sort issues and compare historical configurations at your convenience. Furthermore, it offers a wide range of tech solutions regarding security hardening guidelines, vendor best practices, vulnerability management, configuration drift management etc. Runecast automates your vulnerability management and security standards compliance audits for AWS, Azure, Kubernetes and VMware, as well as for Windows and Linux OS.

Runecast proactively assists with Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM), Kubernetes Security Posture Management (KSPM), and Governance, Risk Management and Compliance (GRC). In addition, it provides continuous audits against other common security standards such as: NIST, HIPAA, PCI DSS, DISA STIG, BSI IT-Grundschutz, ISO 27001, GDPR, Cyber Essentials (UK), Essential 8 (Australia), and the CISA KEVs catalog. 

Summary

Compliance with CIS Benchmarks is relevant to any organization that wants to operate in a secure environment and future-proof their organization. Maintaining a secure environment is becoming progressively more challenging, and so is the security compliance journey. After evaluating all the struggles, Runecast has come up with a fix to make your job easy for you. With an automated solution, now you can save time and other resources by quickly scanning your environment and bringing it to the suggested and desired state. In addition, in Runecast you will find a lot of security solutions such as security hardening guidelines, vendor best practices, vulnerability management, configuration issues and audits against other well known security standards.