Cyber Security Evaluation Tool

There is no doubt today’s cyber threat scene is evolving at a higher speed than the world can fathom. Industry estimates reveal that every minute, about $2.9 million is lost to cybercrime. A new report from IBM and the Ponemon Institute reveals that in 2020 alone, the average cost of a single data breach stood at $3.86 million. With these potential losses looming, businesses and organizations need to focus their resources on solutions that protect their investment from the ever-lurking shadow of cybercriminals.

If you are at risk of cyberattacks, you need to leverage the new Cyber Security Evaluation Tool (CSET) to evaluate your IT network security practices and undertake the necessary improvements.

 2021 cybersecurity stats to ponder:

• Cybercrime is up 600% due to the COVID-19 pandemic
• About 95% of cybersecurity breaches are caused by human error
• Up to 68% of business leaders feel their cybersecurity threats are on the rise
• Data breaches exposed a whopping 36 billion records in the first of 2020 alone
• In 2020, the average time to identify a breach was 207 days
• According to stats from Verizon, 7% of attacks involved malware, 45% of breaches featured hacking, and 22% involved phishing.
• About $3.86 million is the global average cost of a data breach
• Up to 94% of malware is delivered via email

What is the Cyber Security Evaluation Tool (CSET)

The Cyber Security Evaluation Tool (CSET) is a software tool developed by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) to help organizations protect their critical national cyber assets. Cybersecurity professions developed the tool under the guidance of the CISA. The tool enables users to leverage a systematic and repeatable approach to evaluate the security stature of their cyber systems and networks. CSET features high-level and detailed queries designed to enable you to audit your industrial and IT systems.

What Is the Purpose of the Cybersecurity Evaluation Tool (CSET)?

The Cybersecurity Evaluation Tool (CSET) is designed to perform cybersecurity assessments for organizations’ enterprise and industrial control cyber systems.

Specifically, this tool was designed to help users identify vulnerabilities in their enterprise systems and networks. It guides owners on how to assess their security level via a series of questions related to network security requirements and best practices. The presented questionnaires are heavily borrowed from selected industry standards, common requirements, and network topology and architecture.

Additionally, CEST offers a prioritized list of recommendations to help you improve and optimize your organization’s enterprise and industrial control cyber systems, ensuring you are a step ahead of the clever criminals who are getting bolder each day. The tool sources these recommendations from a robust database of cybersecurity standards, practices, and guidelines.

How Does CSET Work?

CEST integrates several standards from reputable organizations, including the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), NIST, Transportation Security Administration (TSA), North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC).

Once you select any of the standards, CSET provides access to a set of questions for you to answer. Your answers to the questions will be automatically compared against a selected security assurance level. The tool will also generate a detailed report showing vulnerable areas in your systems and networks that need cybersecurity improvements. There is no doubt this tool will give you an exceptional opportunity to perform an objective self-assessment on the security level of your control system environment.

What Are the Key Benefits of CSET?

CSET provides several benefits to organizations implementing the tool:

• CSET enables you to optimize your organization’s risk management and decision making
• The tool raises awareness and facilitates in-depth discussion on cybersecurity and the latest threats that organizations are prone to.
• It provides a standard industry-wide platform to be used by organizations when assessing cyber systems
• It helps organizations identify areas of strength and best practices that they should follow
• CSET delivers a method for organizations to compare systematically and monitor their improvement in the cyber assets and system
• It also highlights vulnerabilities in your organization’s system while providing recommendations on ways to remedy these vulnerabilities

How Can I Obtain CSET?

CSER is tailored for quick installation and use on a stand-alone workstation. All new releases of CSET are available on the CSET GitHub page. The CSET exists as a downloadable application that is free of any charges. You can install it locally on your stand-alone laptop or workstation. Once successfully installed, the tool guides you through a step-by-step process to assess your environment based on a given set of questions. You can download the tool at the link below: download CSET here.

What Are the Primary Features of CEST?

• Video tutorials: CEST incorporates video tutorials and self-help options that provide a guided approach to completing assessments utilizing CSET
• Multiple assessments: It also supports the capability to undertake multiple assessments and baseline and measure the results, which organizations can use for comparison within the future evaluation.
• Resources library: The tool incorporates a searchable resource library of reports, templates, and white papers that organizations can reference to improve their cybersecurity preparedness.
• Reporting features: CEST provides topnotch reporting and output options that include an Executive Summary report, Site Summary report, and more
• Network diagram: Features functionality for dynamic generation of a network diagram and visualization of infrastructures such as the control system components and devices.
•  Analytical capabilities: It also provides deep-dive analytical capabilities for determining system design weaknesses or vulnerabilities based upon importing a network diagram to the toolset

What Does the CSET Version 9.0 Update Include?

CSET 9.2 comes with the following feature enhancements and upgrades:

• It comes with International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) and International Society Of Automation(ISA) 62443 standards
• Enhanced reporting
• New analysis for network diagram questions
• Web-based diagram editor
• Automated Cybersecurity Examination Tool(ACET) Standard
• Financial sector risk assessment wizard
• National Credit Union Administration (NCUA)
• A new capability maturity model for financial sector customers

At ECW, we recommend that you update to the new CSET version 9.2 to enjoy more protection and other benefits.

Key Takeaway

The CSET is an exceptional no-cost voluntary technical assessment tool that offers a comprehensive snapshot of your cybersecurity preparedness. It helps asset owners and other users gain beneficial insights into their organization’s cybersecurity strengths and weaknesses. You can use the tool to assess legacy systems and make the necessary improvements. If you have any questions or need help to get started with CSET, don’t hesitate to contact us today.