ISMS Copilot
Supported frameworks

NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF)

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) is a voluntary, risk-based framework developed by the U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology to help organizations manage and improve their cybersecurity posture. Version 2.0 expanded its scope to all organizations—government, industry, and critical infrastructure—providing a flexible approach to reducing cyber risks.

ISMS Copilot has built-in knowledge of NIST CSF 2.0, including all six functions and their categories. You can generate policies, assess risks, and get framework-specific guidance through the AI assistant.

Who Needs NIST CSF?

While voluntary, NIST CSF is widely adopted by:

  • U.S. critical infrastructure organizations (energy, healthcare, finance, transportation)

  • Federal agencies and contractors working with government systems

  • Small and medium businesses seeking a practical cybersecurity approach

  • Any organization wanting a recognized, flexible cybersecurity framework

The framework is especially valuable for organizations that need to demonstrate cybersecurity maturity to stakeholders, customers, or regulators without committing to a formal certification process.

Framework Structure

NIST CSF 2.0 organizes cybersecurity activities into six core functions:

  • Govern: Establish and monitor cybersecurity risk management strategy, expectations, and policy

  • Identify: Understand cybersecurity risks to systems, people, assets, data, and capabilities

  • Protect: Use safeguards to prevent or reduce cybersecurity risks

  • Detect: Find and analyze possible cybersecurity attacks and compromises

  • Respond: Take action regarding detected cybersecurity incidents

  • Recover: Restore assets and operations affected by cybersecurity incidents

Each function contains categories and subcategories that detail specific outcomes. Organizations can tailor their implementation using Profiles (current vs. target state) and Tiers (maturity levels).

Key Requirements

NIST CSF doesn't mandate specific controls. Instead, it provides outcomes that organizations can achieve using various implementation approaches:

  • Risk assessment: Identify and prioritize cybersecurity risks based on business context

  • Policy development: Create governance structures and policies aligned with organizational goals

  • Control implementation: Deploy technical and administrative safeguards across the six functions

  • Continuous monitoring: Establish detection and response capabilities

  • Incident management: Develop processes for responding to and recovering from incidents

NIST CSF maps to other frameworks like ISO 27001, SOC2, and HIPAA, making it easier to demonstrate compliance across multiple standards.

How ISMS Copilot Helps

ISMS Copilot supports NIST CSF implementation through several features:

  • Framework-specific Q&A: Ask questions about specific functions, categories, or subcategories (e.g., "What controls satisfy NIST CSF Protect function?")

  • Policy generation: Create audit-ready policies aligned with NIST CSF requirements

  • Gap analysis: Upload existing security documentation (PDF, DOCX, XLS) to identify gaps against NIST CSF

  • Risk assessments: Generate risk assessments structured around NIST CSF functions

  • Workspace organization: Use dedicated workspaces to manage NIST CSF projects separately from other compliance work

The AI assistant has direct knowledge of NIST CSF 2.0 structure and requirements—you can reference specific functions or categories in your prompts for precise guidance.

Try creating a workspace called "NIST CSF Implementation" and use the framework-specific prompts to accelerate your compliance work.

Getting Started

To begin working with NIST CSF in ISMS Copilot:

  1. Create a new workspace for your NIST CSF project

  2. Ask the AI to explain specific functions or categories you're implementing

  3. Generate initial policies for high-priority areas (e.g., "Create an incident response policy aligned with NIST CSF Respond function")

  4. Upload existing documentation for gap analysis

  5. Use the AI to map your current controls to NIST CSF subcategories

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