Preparing for NIS2 isn’t a compliance exercise – It’s a business opportunity

Microsoft Security

While working to achieve NIS2 compliance will require thorough preparation and collaboration across an organization, leaders can think about their approach through three broad tenants: People, Planning and Partners.

People

Transform your workforce into cybersecurity champions

Any kind of successful transformation effort is about people and company culture as much as it is about technology. Optimizing your cybersecurity – and preparing for NIS2 – is no exception. This is not just an issue relegated to the IT department or your cybersecurity team. Effective security requires teamwork – from workers on the factory floor to the c-suite.

Skilling and education are important components of empowering your people. The majority (62%) of supply chain attacks are malware. And as most malware attacks rely on social engineering, you quickly see why people are so important.

Further, with people working in a more flexible way, the right tools can help safeguard against threats – whether someone is in the office, at home or on the road.

It’s also critical to think about how to best augment the skills and experience of your cybersecurity teams. Currently, Europe faces a shortage of around 500,000 skilled cybersecurity professionals. This means teams are often stretched thin.

AI powered tools offer the opportunity to help cybersecurity teams move faster while minimizing strain.

Plan

Build a plan for preventing and responding to incidents

Savvy organizations plan to pre-empt attacks. But they also plan for when breaches occur. It is important to note that NIS2 will require businesses to have plans in place both for mitigating risk and managing incidents when they do happen.

Pre-empting attacks requires understanding where vulnerabilities exist and implementing safeguards accordingly.

Risk Assessment: Assess risks and comply with regulations using Microsoft 365 Compliance Manager and Microsoft Defender for Cloud.
Supply Chain Security: Secure devices and networks against supply chain attacks using Microsoft Defender for Endpoint

Contingency planning involves implementing tools and processes to protect business continuity. It means ensuring the organization can report incidents accurately and with machine speed.

Security Incident Handling: Manage security alerts with Microsoft Sentinel and data security incidents with Microsoft Purview Information Protection and Insider Risk Management.
Business Continuity: Ensure operations during and after security incidents with Microsoft Azure Site Recovery and Backup.

Partners

Team up with a trusted partner to improve your cybersecurity posture

For organizations looking to modernize their approach to cybersecurity, partnerships are key. As the threat landscape evolves, no organization can effectively mitigate the threat – and ensure accurate, timely incident reporting – while operating in a silo.

Working with a trusted cloud provider represents an essential step to maximize security controls. Microsoft takes a ‘secure by design’ approach with hardened datacenters, managed services and predictive threat mitigation.

The bottom-line: NIS2 isn’t just a regulatory requirement – it’s an opportunity to safeguard your business, help protect Europe’s sovereignty and build trust with your stakeholders.

Microsoft is committed to helping increase cyber resilience for our customers. Working together, we can help our customers plan for NIS2, prepare their workforce and ultimately improve their cybersecurity posture.

For more questions, please contact microsoft.be@tdsynnex.com.

Best regards,

The Microsoft team at TD SYNNEX