NIST Cybersecurity Framework

📋 Compliance10 min readUpdated May 2026

Overview

The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) is the most widely adopted cybersecurity framework in the world. It provides a common language for understanding, managing, and expressing cybersecurity risk. The framework is organized around five core functions that provide a high-level, strategic view of the lifecycle of an organization's management of cybersecurity risk.

Key Requirements

• Identify (ID) — Asset Management, Business Environment, Governance, Risk Assessment, Risk Management Strategy, Supply Chain Risk Management.
• Protect (PR) — Identity Management and Access Control, Awareness and Training, Data Security, Information Protection Processes, Maintenance, Protective Technology.
• Detect (DE) — Anomalies and Events, Security Continuous Monitoring, Detection Processes.
• Respond (RS) — Response Planning, Communications, Analysis, Mitigation, Improvements.
• Recover (RC) — Recovery Planning, Improvements, Communications.

How Gridlock Automates NIST

• Automated asset inventory — Continuously discovers and catalogs all assets across client environments for the Identify function
• Protective technology deployment — Automatically deploys and monitors security controls mapped to the Protect function
• Continuous monitoring — Real-time anomaly detection and security monitoring for the Detect function
• Incident response automation — Automated response playbooks for the Respond function
• Recovery tracking — Tracks and documents recovery procedures for the Recover function

Gap Analysis Checklist

• Scope defined — Identify all systems and data in scope
• Controls implemented — All required controls are in place
• Evidence collected — Automated evidence collection active
• Monitoring active — Continuous compliance monitoring running
• Reports generated — Audit-ready reports available on demand

Timeline: Manual vs Gridlock

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