NIST Cybersecurity Framework

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework is a set of voluntary guidelines, standards, and best practices developed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology to help organizations better manage and reduce cybersecurity risk. It provides a common, risk-based language and structure for cybersecurity activities, organized around five key functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover. Rather than being a rigid checklist, the framework is a flexible tool that enables organizations of any size to assess their current security posture, set improvement goals, and communicate cybersecurity needs effectively between technical and business stakeholders.