Streamline NIS2 Compliance with Automation

It’s no secret that NIS2 is around the corner, and that this directive is full of stringent rules, regulations and guidelines. Above all, it’s no secret that cybersecurity teams are busier than ever. Although this directive is designed to drive a more secure environment for large enterprise and critical infrastructure it’s already adding workload to teams working over capacity. So, I pose this question – what if you could automate your NIS2 compliance?

Keep reading to learn more about automating NIS2 compliance through detection and response with AI enhanced low-code security automation. 

Understand NIS2 Compliance 

Previously, I broke down why NIS2 Compliance should be on your radar for the upcoming deadline of October 2024. With the stringent requirements of NIS2 compliance swiftly approaching, it’s important to understand that NIS2 demands monitoring to be done in real time and lays out strict notification and reporting requirements in the event of a breach. 

This can be daunting to teams that are already at capacity. Some conversations I’ve had recently have led me to believe that SecOps teams are handling more data than ever, whether that’s customer data, telemetry data, SIEM logs, or even internal employee data. SecOps teams face dual challenges: managing data volume and leveraging it effectively. This data is pivotal for compliance with evolving incident reporting regulations and real-time monitoring requirements.

Real-Time Monitoring

Article 21 of the NIS2 security directive requires enterprises to increase risk management measures applied to their security environment. Member States must ensure that essential and important entities implement appropriate and proportionate technical, operational, and organizational measures to manage security risks to their network and information systems. Compliance should consider state-of-the-art practices, relevant standards, and implementation costs. Measures must align with the entity’s risk exposure, size, and likelihood and severity of incidents, considering their societal and economic impact. Key components include:

• Incident response and handling 
• Business continuity
• Vulnerability management
• Human resources
• Multi Factor Authentication Solutions 

Businesses impacted by the NIS2 directive may already have many or all of these processes or tools in place to monitor each of the different requirements. However, they struggle to process all the data they have effectively, detect and respond to threats, and address post-incident reporting. 

How NIS2 Applies to IT and OT Environments 

NIS2 applies to both IT and OT environments, making organizations more vulnerable the more connected they are to both. The convergence of the two environments continues to pose significant challenges for teams. Communication barriers between different teams with diverse objectives make it difficult to manage both environments effectively from a single platform.

Imagine being able to ingest data from various sources, enrich it using other tools deployed in your environment, and utilize customized dashboards to present all essential data in one centralized location. These dashboards could display different fields tailored to different stakeholders based on Role-Based Access Control (RBAC). The possibilities are endless.

My point is simply this – AI-enhanced low-code security automation empowers teams to achieve these goals, extracting value from previously unmanageable data and processes. Swimlane Turbine showcases its capabilities through its customers and partnerships with industry leaders like Dragos, Nozomi, and Recorded Future. Swimlane Turbine, as a vendor agnostic tool, serves as a system of record for the entire security team, aiding compliance with NIS2 regulations.

Three Stage Incident Reporting

How does automation contribute to my team’s compliance with this directive? NIS2 introduces a ‘three-stage approach’ for incident reporting, requiring initial notification within 24 hours, incident reporting within 72 hours, and final notification within one month. It’s crucial to emphasize the stringency of these mandated timeframes.

First Notification

Once the company becomes aware of any incident or breach, they must promptly notify the supervising authority within 24 hours. The report should detail the incident type, origin, and potential ramifications.

Consider a scenario where you don’t require 24 hours, or even 24 minutes. Imagine not needing to assign an analyst to create the notification. Rather than spending valuable time on incident reports for notification purposes, your team could focus on triaging and comprehending the breach.

72-Hour Post Incident Report

The second stage of the reporting process occurs 72-hours after the incident. If the incident is deemed to have caused or is capable of causing severe operational disruption due to the breach’s nature, teams must enhance the initial report. This includes providing additional details, conducting an initial assessment of significance, severity, and impact, as well as identifying indicators of compromise.

Swimlane Turbine’s HeroAI offers case summarization, enabling teams to generate detailed post-incident reports as a foundation for the final report. Analysts tasked with this report benefit from quicker, more accurate decision-making through access to monitoring dashboards, case management, and AI-enhanced summarization features focused on SecOps.

One Month Reporting

Finally, if previous reports have established that the breach significantly impacted the business, the company must submit a final report to the competent authority no later than one month after the incident. This step is intentionally more manual. Security automation aims to empower individuals with higher-quality data for crucial decisions, focusing only on the decisions that matter.

Why Swimlane for my NIS2 compliance?

Amidst the challenges of breaches, regulatory fines, understaffed teams, and mounting board pressures, SOC roles and teams urgently need a force multiplier: the combination of security automation and AI.

Swimlane earns its reputation as the world’s #1 rated Security Automation platform for several reasons. It excels in ingesting vast amounts of data and events, surpassing any other solution. Its vendor-agnostic nature enables seamless data ingestion and automation from any tool, anywhere. Additionally, its customizable features allow adaptation to fit unique workflows and procedures. Thus, Swimlane Turbine stands as the ideal solution for automating end-to-end NIS2 compliance.

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