Protecting Philanthropy: How the NIST Cybersecurity Framework Can Help Nonprofits Stay Secure
Philanthropic leaders face a complex set of challenges: delivering essential services, managing tight budgets, and now, ensuring their organizations' IT and cybersecurity systems are robust enough to withstand increasing cyber threats. According to the Charity Insights Project, 59% of charitable organizations have encountered cyber scams, and 41% have faced fake invoice or billing scams. Even more alarming, nonprofits are the second most targeted sector by cybercriminals.
Philanthropic organizations are uniquely vulnerable for several reasons. They manage sensitive donor and employee information, oversee financial resources, and often operate with suboptimal cybersecurity practices due to limited budgets and expertise. This combination makes them an attractive target for cybercriminals.
Given these challenges, nonprofit leaders often ask, “Where should we start?” The answer is straightforward: by adopting the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. This comprehensive, industry-accepted framework provides a structured approach to improving an organization’s cybersecurity posture.
Wht is the NIST Cybersecurity Framework?
Developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in collaboration with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the NIST Cybersecurity Framework offers a flexible guide to managing and reducing cybersecurity risks. It is widely recognized across industries and serves as a benchmark for organizations looking to bolster their defenses against cyber threats.
The framework is built around five core functions: Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover:
1. Identify
This foundational step focuses on understanding your organization’s environment. Nonprofits must identify critical assets, systems, and data, as well as assess potential risks.
- Conducting a risk assessment to identify vulnerabilities.
- Mapping out all hardware, software, and network components.
2. Protect
Protection involves implementing safeguards to ensure critical services and data remain secure.
- Establishing access controls to limit who can view or edit sensitive information.
- Providing regular cybersecurity training to staff and volunteers.
3. Detect
Early detection of potential cybersecurity events is essential for minimizing damage.
- Deploying monitoring tools to identify unusual activity on their networks.
- Setting up alerts for unauthorized access attempts.
4. Respond
A well-coordinated response plan is critical for mitigating the impact of a cyber incident.
- Develop and test an incident response plan.
- Assign roles and responsibilities for addressing cybersecurity incidents.
5. Recover
The final step focuses on restoring operations and learning from the incident.
- Backing up data regularly and verifying the integrity of those backups.
- Updating policies and procedures based on lessons learned.
Taking the First Step
If you’re a philanthropic leader looking to raise your organization’s cyber defenses, the NIST Cybersecurity Framework is an excellent place to start. Implementing its principles doesn’t require a large budget or an in-house IT team.
At Leap Managed, we specialize in helping nonprofits navigate the complexities of cybersecurity. We can assist your organization increase their cyber defenses in the following ways:
- NIST Guides - Visit our website and check out our non-profit guides to cybersecurity. Go to leapmanagedit.com or click on this link to go directly to the article: Non-Profit Leaders Guide to Cybersecurity
- Self-Assessment Tool - Email us at thehelpfulteam@leapmit.com to request our NIST self-assessment tool.
- Cybersecurity assessment – Email us to find out how your organization can qualify for a no cost cybersecurity assessment facilitated by the Leap Cybersecurity Team.