Re: CIS vs NIST

[randy <marchany () VT EDU>]

Chris, I think you mixed standards with operational tasks. 800-171 is a
standard/framework whereas CIS is an operational task list. Framework
implementation plans are "stacked" in the sense that they address different
stages of implementing a particular framework. The "stack" starts at the
high level frameworks (NIST 800-53a, ISO27002, NIST 800-171, IEC 62443,
COBIT etc.), regulations (FERPA, HIPAA, PCI, GLBA, MA CoM 201, NY-NYCRR
500, etc.) -> operational strategy (20 Critical Security Controls) ->
operational tasks (CIS Benchmarks) -> building your "gold" images. This
roadmap helps you translate the high level requirements of a framework like
NIST or ISO to actual operational steps that meet the requirements. I
wasn't sure if you were talking about implementing a security framework for
your entire university or if you were talking about creating a course for
students. I'm assuming it's the university's compliance with a security
framework.

We use the Critical Security Controls (CSC) as our operational strategy.
You can view a map the critical controls to a ton of standards by
downloading a spreadsheet from www.auditscripts.com/download/2742 or  go to
www.auditscripts.com-> FreeResources->Critical Security Controls and click
on the Auditscripts Critical Security Controls Mapping spreadsheet link. We
adopted the Stanford Minimum Security Standards model (our version is
attached to this note) which gives a set of actions to be done on
endpoints, servers and apps. We mapped these actions to the CSC. You can
find details commands to implement these actions in the CIS benchmarks. For
example, NIST 800-171 control 3.5.7 states "Enforce a minimum password
complexity and change of characters when new passwords are created."  This
NIST requirement maps to CSC 16 (Account Monitoring and Control) but you
want to do this for a Windows Server 2016 system. The details are in the
CIS benchmark for Windows Server 2016.  You look up password complexity in
the CIS Server 2016 Benchmark document and section 1.1.5 of the document
contains the commands to implement this requirement. Cut and paste that
command into a script file that "hardens" your server to

If on the other hand you were talking about creating course content for
classes, you can see some of the offerings at the VA Cyber Range (
www.virginiacyberrange.org) by clicking on the courseware link. Accessing
the materials is available to VA schools only at the moment but there are
plans to expand but you can see the course offerings and how they map to
KSA/KSUs.

Joanna Grama, Jarret Cummings and I did a workshop at the recent Educause
SecPro conference on implementing 800-171 compliance using the 20 CSC. The
workshop materials are at
https://events.educause.edu/special-topic-events/security-professionals-conference/2018/agenda/from-preparation-to-practice--using-the-cis-critical-security-controls-to-implement-nist-800171-security-compliance
.

Hope this helps.

Randy Marchany
VA Tech IT Security Office and Lab



On Mon, Apr 30, 2018 at 9:49 AM, Davis, Chris <CDavis () lourdes edu> wrote:

> We are a very small school and are just getting started with infosec.  We
> are evaluating frameworks and seem to be wavering between CIS and NIST
> 800-171.
>
>
>
> My thoughts are that CIS will be easier for us to implement and manage
> long-term given our limited resources.  But we have compliance issues to
> consider just like everyone else – HIPAA, PCI, FEPRA, GLBA, etc.
>
>
>
> Given those parameters, which do you think would be more successful for us
> – CIS or 800-171?
>
>
>
> Thanks!
>
>
>
> Chris
>
>
>
> *Christopher Davis, Ph.D.*
>
> Chief Information Officer
>
> Lourdes University
>
> 6832 Convent Blvd
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>
> cdavis () lourdes edu
>
>
>
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Attachment: DRAFT Updated Minimum Security Standards 03 2018.docx
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