The NIST CSF Recover Function

The NIST CSF Recover Function: Assets and operations affected by a cybersecurity incident are restored.
Source: The NIST CSF 2.0

What is the NIST CSF Recover Function?

This Function underscores the need for your organization to restore systems and data promptly after a cybersecurity incident. It guides businesses to formulate and execute recovery plans to minimize downtime and operational consequences.

By following the guidelines of the Recover Function, organizations can:

• Enhance their recovery process after an incident.
• Minimize business downtime.
• Ensure restoration updates are communicated to stakeholders effectively.

The Recover Function has two Categories.

The two Categories have multiple Subcategories.

1. Incident Recovery Plan Execution (RC.RP)

This Category focuses on putting into practice an organized strategy to recover from a cybersecurity disaster and restore systems and operations to normal. This entails carrying out documented recovery plans that specify the steps, roles, and duties in order to guarantee a well-organized, effective reaction to incidents.

The Subcategories of RC.RP are:

• RC.RP-01: The recovery portion of the incident response plan is executed once initiated from the incident response process
  This is a critical Subcategory that ensures your organization has a structured approach to recovering from cybersecurity incidents, focusing on resuming normal operations effectively and efficiently.

  The actionable steps below can help you comply with this Subcategory:

  • Create a structured, well-defined recovery plan.
  • Ensure the plan has specific steps to restore normal operations, including system restorations, data recovery, and infrastructure repairs.
  • Prioritize critical systems and services based on their severity.
  • Coordinate various teams, including IT, security, and business units, and ensure clear communication with stakeholders about your recovery progress and expected timelines.
  • Verify the integrity and security of restored systems to ensure that the threats have been eliminated and the vulnerabilities have been addressed.
  • Utilize reliable backups to restore lost or corrupted data and maintain data integrity following an incident.

Log360's advanced SOAR capabilities allow your team to terminate or initiate processes, change firewall rules, and conduct Active Directory changes automatically after an incident to enable recovery.

• RC.RP-02: Recovery actions are selected, scoped, prioritized, and performed
  This Subcategory is essential for ensuring your organization can efficiently recover from cybersecurity incidents.

  The actionable steps below can help you comply with this Subcategory:

  • Select the appropriate recovery actions based on the nature and impact of the incident.
  • Determine the scope by identifying the affected systems, data, and business processes.
  • Prioritize recovery tasks based on their criticality to business operations.
  • Allocate resources, including personnel, technology, and finances, to recovery efforts.
  • Execute recovery actions systematically to restore data, systems, and operations to their original states.

• RC.RP-03: The integrity of backups and other restoration assets is verified before using them for restoration
  This Subcategory emphasizes ensuring the reliability and safety of backup data and restoration assets before they are employed in recovery efforts.

  The actionable steps below can help you comply with this Subcategory:

  • Verify the integrity of backups and restoration assets to ensure that they are free from corruption, malware, or tampering.
  • Implement robust validation procedures, such as checksums, hash comparisons, and malware scans, that can help confirm that backup files have not been tampered with.
  • Utilize automated tools and scripts for backup verification to enhance your efficiency, accuracy, and speed in identifying integrity issues.
  • Maintain multiple copies of backups in different locations to ensure that clean copies are available for restoration.

• RC.RP-04: Critical mission functions and cybersecurity risk management are considered to establish post-incident operational norms
  This Subcategory focuses on ensuring that your recovery efforts after a cybersecurity incident are aligned with the organization's critical mission functions and overall risk management strategy.

  The actionable steps below can help you comply with this Subcategory:

  • Align post-incident recovery strategies with your organization’s critical mission functions.
  • Prioritize recovery efforts based on the impact of the incident on critical mission functions.
  • Conduct a risk assessment to understand how different incidents could affect critical functions and tailor your recovery strategies accordingly.
  • Integrate cybersecurity risk management practices into the recovery process, ensuring that your recovery plans address the identified risks and vulnerabilities.
  • Establish post-incident operational norms, which involves defining the new standards and procedures that will govern operations after recovery.

• RC.RP-05: The integrity of restored assets is verified, systems and services are restored, and normal operating status is confirmed
  This Subcategory emphasizes the importance of the verification process as well as ensuring that all systems and services return to a secure, fully operational state following an incident.

  The actionable steps below can help you comply with this Subcategory:

  • Verify the integrity of all the restored assets, ensuring that they are free from any residual malicious code, unauthorized modifications, or vulnerabilities.
  • Conduct thorough data integrity checks to confirm that the data has not been tampered with.
  • Validate the configurations of the restored systems and services to ensure they align with established security policies and standards.
  • Perform rigorous testing on the restored systems and applications to verify their functionality, security, and performance.

• RC.RP-06: The end of incident recovery is declared based on criteria, and incident-related documentation is completed
  This Subcategory emphasizes the formal conclusion of the recovery process and the comprehensive documentation of the incident.

  The actionable steps below can help you comply with this Subcategory:

  • Establish clear criteria that define when the incident recovery process is considered complete, ensuring that all the recovery actions have been executed.
  • Assess whether all the systems, data, and services affected by the incident have been fully restored.
  • Document the details of the incident, including timelines, actions taken, resources used, and decisions made.
  • Include an analysis of the incident and lessons learned to identify areas for improvement and enhance future incident response efforts.
  • Produce a formal declaration of the end of incident recovery as an official acknowledgment that your organization has returned to normal operations.

2. Incident Recovery Communication (RC.CO)

This Category entails identifying the important parties, creating communication strategies, and making certain that all the lines of communication are open and well-established. Maintaining openness, managing stakeholder expectations, and reducing the possible negative effects on your company's operations and reputation are all made possible by effective incident recovery communication.

The Subcategories of RC.CO are:

• RC.CO-03: Recovery activities and progress in restoring operational capabilities are communicated to designated internal and external stakeholders
  This Subcategory emphasizes the importance of effective communication during the recovery phase of a cybersecurity incident.

  The actionable steps below can help you comply with this Subcategory:

  • Ensure that timely updates regarding your recovery efforts and progress are communicated to the relevant stakeholders, both internal and external.
  • Establish clear communication channels and protocols to ensure that the right information reaches the right stakeholders.
  • Provide regular progress reports for stakeholders, detailing the steps being taken for restoration, the challenges encountered, and the expected timeline for full recovery.
  • Establish a feedback mechanism for stakeholders to raise concerns, ask questions, and provide input.

• RC.CO-04: Public updates on incident recovery are shared using approved methods and messaging
  This Subcategory highlights the importance of transparent communication and the messaging used with the public during the recovery phase of an incident.

  The actionable steps below can help you comply with this Subcategory:

  • Establish clear communication channels and protocols to ensure that the right information reaches the right stakeholders.
  • Develop consistent messaging that aligns with your organization's values and priorities.
  • Address the concerns of stakeholders, such as the nature of the incident, its impact on their data or services, and the steps being taken for restoration.
  • Maintain transparency and accuracy in communication to preserve stakeholder trust.
  • Coordinate your legal, public relations, and executive teams to ensure that all your updates are legally sound and aligned with the organization's overall communication strategy.
  • Determine an appropriate frequency for updates, because too few updates can lead to speculation and mistrust, and too many updates might overwhelm stakeholders.
  • Avoid overly technical language and use understandable terms to convey the incident's status and recovery efforts.
  • Publish a final update after recovery that summarizes the incident, outlines the lessons learned, and describes the measures being implemented to strengthen security and prevent future incidents.