The NIS2 Directive (Network and Information Security Directive 2) is the latest European Union (EU) legislation designed to strengthen cybersecurity. An evolution of the original NIS Directive introduced in 2016, NIS2 significantly broadens the scope of industries and organizational impact. The increasingly sophisticated and complex level of cyber threats and increased risks make compliance with NIS2 a necessity.

For businesses across Europe and beyond, NIS2 introduces new requirements to improve risk management, cyber incident response, and overall resilience against cyberattacks.

Let’s explore the core elements of NIS2, the key risks it aims to mitigate, and the strategies businesses can implement to meet these requirements effectively.

NIS2 Directive: Comprehending the Requirements

The NIS2 Directive came into force to address the growing risks associated with digital transformation and interconnectivity in critical sectors. It expands its requirements from the original NIS Directive while accounting for the constantly evolving threat landscape. Here’s what makes NIS2 a game-changer:

Expanded Scope

NIS2 broadens the range of sectors under its jurisdiction, including healthcare, public administration, food supply chains, manufacturing, and the digital infrastructure sector (such as cloud providers and data centers). This expanded scope means that a wider variety of businesses—beyond just traditional “critical infrastructure”—must now meet stringent cybersecurity standards.

Harmonized Requirements Across the EU

NIS2 aims to create a more consistent cybersecurity framework across EU member states. It establishes clear requirements for incident reporting, risk management, and security measures, which means organizations must harmonize standard practices to harmonize across all operations.

Accountability and Governance

NIS2 places a strong emphasis on top-level management accountability, in which executives will be personally liable for non-compliance, putting pressure on organizations to ensure cybersecurity becomes a board-level priority.

Increased Penalties

Fines and penalties for non-compliance with NIS2 are significantly higher than those under the original NIS Directive. Organizations may face fines of up to €10,000,000 or 2% of global annual revenue, whichever is higher.

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Key Requirements & Risk Mitigation Under NIS2

Achieving compliance with NIS2 requires a strategic approach to risk mitigation. The key to successfully mitigating risk lies in implementing a comprehensive risk management framework that addresses all aspects of cybersecurity, from prevention to response and recovery. Below are several strategies to help businesses mitigate risk and meet NIS2 requirements:

Develop a Risk-Based Approach

The NIS2 Directive emphasizes the importance of taking a risk-based approach to cybersecurity. This means identifying, assessing, and prioritizing risks based on the impact on business operations and the security of critical infrastructure. To mitigate risks effectively, organizations should:

  • Conduct an extensive risk assessment to identify vulnerabilities in systems, networks, and processes.
  • Implement preventative measures to address identified risks, such as multi-factor authentication, encryption, and network segmentation.
  • Establish a risk governance framework that integrates cybersecurity into overall business operations.

Enhance Incident Response

Expedient detection and response to cyber incidents are essential for mitigating risks and minimizing damage. NIS2 requires organizations to develop incident response plans that include rapid detection, containment, and recovery measures. To meet this requirement, businesses should:

  • Implement 24/7 monitoring of critical systems and networks using cybersecurity technologies and tools.
  • Develop an incident response plan that outlines processes and procedures for detecting, reporting, and responding to cyber incidents.
  • Conduct regular drills and simulations to test incident response plans and ensure that all employees know their roles in case of a breach.

Ensure Supply Chain Security

The nature of interconnected supply chains means that vulnerabilities in any link in that chain can expose the entire network to risk. NIS2 places a strong emphasis on ensuring supply chain security. To reduce risks in this area, organizations should:

  • Implement a vendor risk management program to assess the security policies and practices of third-party vendors and partners.
  • Establish contractual obligations for cybersecurity standards with suppliers and service providers.
  • Regularly audit and review the cybersecurity practices of vendors to ensure they align with the organization’s security policies.
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Promote Cybersecurity Governance

Strong governance is key to ensuring that cybersecurity is taken seriously at all levels of an organization. NIS2 emphasizes accountability at the executive level, making it critical for senior leaders to understand their role in cybersecurity. To promote effective governance, organizations should:

  • Establish a cybersecurity committee or governance board that includes several teams across the organization, including IT, legal, and compliance.
  • Ensure that senior executives are trained on the requirements of NIS2 and the potential risks to the organization.
  • Assign specific roles and responsibilities for cybersecurity to ensure clear accountability for implementing security measures and responding to incidents.

Foster a Culture of Cyber Awareness

One of the major causes of cybersecurity incidents is human error. NIS2 requires organizations to invest in training and awareness programs to reduce the risk of accidental breaches. To create a culture of cybersecurity, businesses should:

  • Implement training programs regularly to educate employees on cybersecurity best practices, including awareness around phishing and secure password management.
  • Conduct ongoing awareness campaigns to reinforce the importance of cybersecurity and ensure that all employees understand their role in protecting the organization.
  • Encourage a proactive reporting culture where employees feel comfortable reporting suspicious activity or potential security incidents.
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Achieve NIS2 Directive Compliance with BigID Data-Centric Security Solutions

BigID enables organizations in critical sectors such as energy, transport, finance, healthcare, and digital infrastructure in the EU to bolster cybersecurity capabilities and align with the EU Network & Information Systems (NIS) 2 Directive requirements. With BigID, organizations can create a comprehensive data inventory that provides complete visibility into their personal and sensitive data and take measures to mitigate risk, secure data, and meet the stricter cybersecurity standards of the NIS2 Directive.

The NIS2 outlines several essential requirements in which BigID helps organizations build cyber resilience against vulnerabilities and threats to achieve compliance.

Automate Data Governance & Security Policies

Articles 20 & 21 of NIS2 require organizations to develop internal governance, security policies, and control frameworks to analyze the risks and effectiveness of cyber risk management to ensure business continuity. These organizations must clearly define, approve, oversee, and manage governance and security policies that ensure data availability, authenticity, integrity, and protection.

BigID’s solution can map and analyze data flows to gain complete data visibility. With BigID, organizations can build a data inventory to understand how data is processed, transmitted, and stored to mitigate risk and comply with NIS2 data governance and security procedure requirements.

Improve IT and Security Risk Management

Article 21 of the NIS2 requires taking operational, technical, and organizational measures to identify and manage the risks associated with the security of data and critical systems. The framework encourages organizations to implement robust cybersecurity measures, conduct regular risk assessments, and establish strategies to mitigate cybersecurity risks.

By identifying and classifying sensitive data, BigID can aid in proactive risk management by understanding where vulnerabilities exist, assessing data risk, protecting against unauthorized access, and quickly providing reporting to internal and external stakeholders.

Streamline Incident Response and Reporting

NIS2 requires organizations to have an effective incident response strategy to adhere to strict incident reporting timelines (often within 24-72 hours). It’s critical to enable timely identification and response to operational disruptions, cyber incidents, and other significant events.

BigID helps organizations minimize the impact of data breaches with proactive measures to detect and respond to cybersecurity incidents. With BigID, you can easily comply with NIS2 requirements with effective breach response and incident reporting.

Remediate Cybersecurity Risk

Article 21 of NIS2 requires measures to reduce the risk of breaches and protect all sensitive data in transit and at rest through end-to-end encryption, access control policies, vulnerability disclosures, and asset management.

Automate data remediation for sensitive, critical, and high-risk data. BigID enables organizations to manage data remediation activity across all their data risks and vulnerabilities, including data deletion, encryption, tokenization, masking, and more.

Can you meet the expectations of the Network & Information Systems (NIS) 2 Directive? Get a 1:1 demo with our security experts to see how BigID can help you effectively implement the requirements of NIS2.