Information security standards (also cyber security standards[1]) are techniques generally outlined in published materials that attempt to protect the cyber environment of a user or organization.[2] This environment includes users themselves, networks, devices, all software, processes, information in storage or transit, applications, services, and systems that can be connected directly or indirectly to networks.
The principal objective is to reduce the risks, including preventing or mitigating cyber-attacks. These published materials consist of tools, policies, security concepts, security safeguards, guidelines, risk management approaches, actions, training, best practices, assurance and technologies.
Cybersecurity standards have existed over several decades as users and providers have collaborated in many domestic and international forums to effect the necessary capabilities, policies, and practices – generally emerging from work at the Stanford Consortium for Research on Information Security and Policy in the 1990s.[3]
A 2016 US security framework adoption study reported that 70% of the surveyed organizations the NIST Cybersecurity Framework as the most popular best practice for Information Technology (IT) computer security, but many note that it requires significant investment.[4] Cross-border, cyber-exfiltration operations by law enforcement agencies to counter international criminal activities on the dark web raise complex jurisdictional questions that remain, to some extent, unanswered.[5] [6] Tensions between domestic law enforcement efforts to conduct cross-border cyber-exfiltration operations and international jurisdiction are likely to continue to provide improved cybersecurity norms.[7]
The subsections below detail international standards related to cybersecurity.
See main article: ISO/IEC 27001. ISO/IEC 27001, part of the growing ISO/IEC 27000 family of standards, is an information security management system (ISMS) standard, of which the last revision was published in October 2022 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). Its full name is ISO/IEC 27001:2022 – Information security, cybersecurity and privacy protection - Information security management systems - Requirements.
The ISO/IEC 27001 Standard has been adopted identically as EN ISO/IEC 27001 by CEN and CENELEC.[8]
ISO/IEC 27001 formally specifies a management system intended to bring information security under explicit management control.
ISO/IEC 27002 incorporates part 1 of the BS 7799 good security management practice standard. The latest version of BS 7799 is BS 7799-3. Sometimes ISO/IEC 27002 is therefore referred to as ISO 17799 or BS 7799 part 1 and, sometimes it refers to part 1 and part 7. BS 7799 part 1 provides an outline or good practice guide for cybersecurity management; whereas BS 7799 part 2 and ISO/IEC 27001 are normative and therefore provide a framework for certification. ISO/IEC 27002 is a high-level guide to cybersecurity. It is most beneficial as explanatory guidance for the management of an organisation to obtain certification to the ISO/IEC 27001 standard. The certification once obtained lasts three years. Depending on the auditing organisation, no or some intermediate audits may be carried out during the three years.
ISO/IEC 27001 (ISMS) replaces BS 7799 part 2, but since it is backwards compatible any organization working toward BS 7799 part 2 can easily transition to the ISO/IEC 27001 certification process. There is also a transitional audit available to make it easier once an organization is BS 7799 part 2-certified for the organization to become ISO/IEC 27001-certified. ISO/IEC 27002 provides best practice recommendations on information security management for use by those responsible for initiating, implementing or maintaining information security management systems (ISMS). It states the information security systems required to implement ISO/IEC 27002 control objectives. Without ISO/IEC 27001, ISO/IEC 27002 control objectives are ineffective. ISO/IEC 27002 controls objectives are incorporated into ISO 27001 in Annex A.
ISO/IEC 21827 (SSE-CMM – ISO/IEC 21827) is an International Standard based on the Systems Security Engineering Capability Maturity Model (SSE-CMM) that can measure the maturity of ISO controls objectives.
See main article: Common Criteria. This standard develops what is called the “Common Criteria.” It allows many different software and hardware products to be integrated and tested in a secure way.
The IEC/ISA 62443 cybersecurity standards define processes, techniques and requirements for Industrial Automation and Control Systems (IACS). The documents in this series are developed though a collaborative relationship between the ISA99 committee and IEC TC65 WG10, applying the IEC standards creation process where all national committees involved agree upon a common standard.
All IEC 62443 standards and technical reports are organized into four general categories called General, Policies and Procedures, System and Component.
ISO/SAE 21434 "Road vehicles - Cybersecurity engineering" is a cybersecurity standard jointly developed by ISO and SAE working groups. It proposes cybersecurity measures for the development lifecycle of road vehicles. The standard was published in August 2021.[9]
The standard is related to the European Union (EU) regulation on cyber security that is currently being developed. In coordination with the EU, the UNECE is developing a certification for a "Cyber Security Management System" (CSMS), which is to be mandatory for the type approval of vehicles. ISO/SAE 21434 is a technical standard for automotive development that can demonstrate compliance with those regulations.
A derivative of this is in the work of UNECE WP29, which provides regulations for vehicle cybersecurity and software updates. [10]
The ETSI EN 303 645 standard provides a set of baseline requirements for security in consumer Internet of things (IoT) devices. It contains technical controls and organizational policies for developers and manufacturers of Internet-connected consumer devices. The standard was released in June 2020[11] and is intended to be complemented by other, more specific standards. As many consumer IoT devices handle personally identifiable information (PII), implementing the standard helps with complying to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in the EU.[12]
The Cybersecurity provisions in this European standard are:
Conformance assessment of these baseline requirements is via the standard TS 103 701, which allows self-certification, or certification by another group.[13]
The subsections below detail national standards and frameworks related to cybersecurity.
An initial attempt to create information security standards for the electrical power industry was created by NERC in 2003 and was known as NERC CSS (Cyber Security Standards).[14] Subsequent to the CSS guidelines, NERC evolved and enhanced those requirements. The most widely recognized modern NERC security standard is NERC 1300, which is a modification/update of NERC 1200. The newest version of NERC 1300 is called CIP-002-3 through CIP-009-3 (CIP=Critical Infrastructure Protection). These standards are used to secure bulk electric systems although NERC has created standards within other areas. The bulk electric system standards also provide network security administration while still supporting best-practice industry processes.
See main article: category and National Institute of Standards and Technology.
See main article: FIPS 140. The 140 series of Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS) are U.S. government computer security standards that specify requirements for cryptography modules. Both FIPS 140-2 and FIPS 140-3 are accepted as current and active.
See main article: Cyber Essentials. Cyber Essentials is a United Kingdom government information assurance scheme that is operated by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). It encourages organizations to adopt good practice in information security. Cyber Essentials also includes an assurance framework and a simple set of security controls to protect information from threats coming from the internet.
The Australian Cyber Security Centre has developed prioritised mitigation strategies, in the form of the Strategies to Mitigate Cyber Security Incidents, to help organisations protect themselves against various cyber threats. The most effective of these mitigation strategies are called the Essential Eight.[16]
The Federal Office for Information Security (German: Bundesamt für Sicherheit in der Informationstechnik, abbreviated as BSI) standards are an elementary component of the IT baseline protection (German: IT-Grundschutz) methodology. They contain recommendations on methods, processes and procedures as well as approaches and measures for various aspects of information security. Users from public authorities and companies as well as manufacturers or service providers can use the BSI standards to make their business processes and data more secure.[17]
The subsections below detail cybersecurity standards and frameworks related to specific industries.
See main article: Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. The Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) is an information security standard for organizations that handle branded credit cards from the major card schemes. The PCI Standard is mandated by the card brands but administered by the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council. The standard was created to increase controls around cardholder data to reduce credit card fraud.
UL 2900 is a series of standards published by UL. The standards include general cybersecurity requirements (UL 2900-1) as well as specific requirements for medical products (UL 2900-2-1), industrial systems (UL 2900-2-2), and security and life safety signalling systems (UL 2900-2-3).
UL 2900 requires that manufacturers have described and documented the attack surface of the technologies used in their products. It requires threat modeling based on the intended use and deployment environment. The standard requires the implementation of effective security measures that protect sensitive (personal) data as well as other assets such as command and control data. It also requires that security vulnerabilities in the software have been eliminated, security principles such as defence-in-depth have been followed, and the security of the software has been verified through penetration testing.