Cybersecurity is becoming a big problem for businesses of all sizes in the present –digital world. Cyber attacks are becoming more common and sophisticated, and if they are successful, they can have terrible consequences. Companies need to implement a robust cybersecurity plan as a result, and those in Australia are no exception.
Businesses in Australia are also dealing with a wide range of issues, including ransomware attacks and data breaches. In light of this, the Australian federal government and the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) developed the Essential Eight Standard Framework to significantly improve the cyber resilience of Australian businesses. The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) and the ACSC introduced this data security standard in February 2017. To safeguard their priceless assets, the ACSC advises organizations to start with all the eight risk-mitigating methods highlighted by its guidelines.
While putting these controls in place may be essential, it is still challenging. Once you dive into the thick of it, you will face some questions that may feel overwhelming. To overcome such challenges, we at Akitra, have curated this blog for you. In this article, we will answer the five most frequently-asked questions about ACSC’s Essential Eight Standard.
But first, let’s understand what the ACSC’s Essential Eight Standard Framework is.
What is ACSC’s Essential Eight Standard Framework?
The Essential Eight Framework was established by the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC) as a risk management framework to prioritize eight different robust strategies for mitigating cyber risk.
These tactics are meant to help businesses improve their cybersecurity posture and are derived from recommended practices for mitigating cybersecurity incidents for organizations.
The controls outlined in the Essential Eight Framework include Application Whitelisting, Application Patching, Restricting Microsoft Office Macros, Multi-Factor Authentication, User Application Hardening, Restricting Administrative Privileges, Operating Systems Patching, and Daily Backups. The baseline set by these guidelines can make it much harder for malicious agents to compromise data infrastructure.
Now that you know what the ACSC Essential Eight Standard Framework does, let’s dive into the five most frequently-asked questions about this compliance standard.
Five Most Frequently-Asked Questions about ACSC’s Essential Eight Framework
- Is the Essential Eight Standard Framework Applicable to all Systems?
The purpose of The Essential Eight Standard Framework is to safeguard information technology networks connected to the internet within businesses. While enterprise mobility and operational technology networks may benefit from applying the Essential Eight principles, these settings were not intended for them, and other mitigation measures might be better suitable for safeguarding against specific cyber dangers.
- Why Update the Essential Eight Maturity Model (E8MM)?
The Australian Signals Directorate (ASD) is dedicated to offering up-to-date, functional, and useful cyber security advice. Regular updates to the E8MM are part of this.
Malevolent agents consistently modify their tactics to circumvent preventive measures implemented by establishments. ASD continuously strives to learn about any new inventive strategies incorporated by such hostile actors through its cyber threat intelligence and cyber security incident response activities.
As part of Essential Eight implementation evaluations and uplift initiatives, ASD also strives to learn how its cyber security recommendations are implemented inside businesses. The updates made to the E8MM follow a comprehensive study consulted with government and industry partners. In the face of these revelations, it is imperative to update the E8MM in your organization with changing threats in your security environments.
- How do the Essential Eight Maturity Model and Information Security Manual Relate to Each Other?
While the E8MM is based on prioritizing the implementation of controls to mitigate various levels of malicious actors’ tradecraft and targeting, the Information Security Manual (ISM) bases its applicability of controls on the classification of data that a system will store, process, or communicate.
Organizations further use the Open Security Control Assessment Language (OSCAL) baselines for the E8MM provided by the ISM to monitor how the E8MM is being implemented in their governance, reporting, and compliance systems.
Organizations ought to take their ISM and E8MM criteria into separate consideration. For instance, when developing and implementing a system, an organization that is contractually obligated to implement Maturity Level Two from the E8MM should not presume that controls inside the ISM that are linked to Maturity Level Three are outside of its purview. This means that while Maturity Level Two is regarded as a required baseline for non-corporate Commonwealth entities subject to the Department of Home Affairs’ Protective Security Policy Framework, controls mapped to Maturity Level Three within the ISM are still applicable for their systems, though their implementation may be risky.
- Are Legacy Systems Out of Scope for the Implementation of ACSC’s Essential Eight Standard Framework?
The Essential Eight is frequently challenging to fully or partially apply on legacy systems. In these situations, ASD strongly advises businesses to modernize their outdated systems as soon as possible in order to fully implement the Essential Eight. Wherever possible, businesses should put compensatory measures in place while a system is being upgraded.
- What Maturity Level Should You Target During the Implementation of ACSC’s Essential Eight Standard Framework?
Organizations must determine and prepare for a target maturity level that is appropriate for their context before putting the Essential Eight requirements into practice. Following that, organizations should gradually implement each maturity level until the desired outcome is reached.
In general, small to medium-sized businesses may find Maturity Level One appropriate, large organizations may find Maturity Level Two appropriate, and critical infrastructure providers and other companies operating in high-threat situations may find Maturity Level Three appropriate.
If an organization’s intended maturity level is higher than Maturity Level One, they may decide to execute specific needs of a higher maturity level if doing so will ultimately be more efficient and cost-effective. For instance, businesses may decide to implement smart cards, security keys, or passkeys when implementing Maturity Level One, instead of using physical one-time password tokens to meet Maturity Level One requirements, and then later replacing them with phishing-resistant smart cards, security keys, or passkeys to meet Maturity Level Two requirements. It is inappropriate to punish any company for putting in place stronger security measures than those required for the maturity level against which they are being evaluated.
ACSC’s Essential Eight Compliance Readiness, with Akitra!
Establishing trust is a crucial competitive differentiator when courting new SaaS businesses in today’s era of data breaches and compromised privacy. Customers and partners want assurances that their organizations are doing everything possible to prevent disclosing sensitive data and putting them at risk, and compliance certification fills that need.
Akitra offers an industry-leading, AI-powered Compliance Automation platform for SaaS companies. Using automated evidence collection and continuous monitoring, together with a full suite of customizable policies and controls as a compliance foundation, our compliance automation platform and services help our customers become compliance-ready for ACSC’s Essential Eight framework and other security standards, such as SOC 1, SOC 2, HIPAA, GDPR, PCI DSS, ISO 27001, ISO 27701, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, ISO 9001, ISO 13485, NIST CSF, NIST 800-53, NIST 800-171, FedRAMP, CCPA, CMMC, SOX ITGC, and more such as CIS AWS Foundations Benchmark, Australian ISM and Essential Eight etc. In addition, companies can use Akitra’s Risk Management product for overall risk management using quantitative methodologies such as Factorial Analysis of Information Risks (FAIR) and qualitative methods, including NIST-based for your company, Vulnerability Assessment and Pen Testing services, Trust Center, and AI-based Automated Questionnaire Response product to streamline and expedite security questionnaire response processes, delivering huge cost savings. Our compliance and security experts will provide customized guidance to navigate the end-to-end compliance process confidently. Akitra Academy provides easy-to-learn short video courses on security, compliance, and related topics of immense significance for today’s fast-growing companies.
The benefits of our solution include enormous savings in time, human resources, and cost savings, including discounted audit fees with our audit firm partners. Customers achieve compliance certification fast and cost-effectively, stay continuously compliant as they grow, and can become certified under additional frameworks using a single compliance automation platform.
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