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CIS Critical Security Controls Version 8

The CIS Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls) are a prioritized set of Safeguards to mitigate the most prevalent cyber-attacks against systems and networks. They are mapped to and referenced by multiple legal, regulatory, and policy frameworks. CIS Controls v8 has been enhanced to keep up with modern systems and software. Movement to cloud-based computing, virtualization, mobility, outsourcing, Work-from-Home, and changing attacker tactics prompted the update and supports an enterprise’s security as they move to both fully cloud and hybrid environments.

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Learn about CIS Controls v8

Tools and Resources

Policy Templates

Companion Guides for CIS Controls v8

CIS Controls v8 Mappings

CIS Controls v8 Translations

Learn about CIS Controls v8

Start by downloading the CIS Controls

The CIS Controls are a prioritized set of actions developed by a global IT community. This set of best practices is trusted by security leaders in both the private and public sector.
Download CIS Controls v8 (read FAQs)

Interested in seeing how others implement the CIS Controls?

Industry professionals and organizations all around the world utilize the CIS Controls to enhance their organization’s cybersecurity posture. Check out recent case studies to learn more.
Read CIS Controls Case Studies

Interested in learning more about CIS Controls Version 8?

Consider taking our no-cost essential cyber hygiene introductory course on Salesforce’s Trailhead application.
Access course

State Legislation Leveraging the CIS Controls

See how the CIS Controls are being leveraged from state to state.
Learn more

Tools and Resources

CIS CSAT Ransomware Business Impact Analysis Tool

Organizations can evaluate their likelihood of experiencing a ransomware attack and its potential impacts by using the CIS CSAT Ransomware Business Impact Analysis (BIA) tool. This utility has been created by CIS in partnership with Foresight Resilience Strategies (4RS). The BIA tool applies scores for ransomware-related Safeguards to estimate an enterprise’s likelihood of being affected by a ransomware attack; those who have already started an assessment using CIS-Hosted CSAT can import the scores from that assessment. Get started assessing your ransomware risks today!
Access BIA Tool

Assess your Implementation of the CIS Controls

The CIS Controls Self-Assessment Tool, or CIS CSAT, is a free web application that enables security leaders to track and prioritize their implementation of the CIS Controls.
Access CIS CSAT

CIS Controls Poster

Learn about the implementation groups and essential cyber hygiene with this downloadable poster.
Download poster

What’s Changed?

Cybersecurity is an evolving industry with an endless list of threat actors. The tools we use to stay safe and secure must be updated to match the current threat landscape. Find out how CIS Controls v8 was updated from v7.1.
Download CIS Controls v8 Change Log

CIS Controls v8 Implementation Groups

Implementation Groups (IGs) provide a simple and accessible way to help organizations of different classes focus their scarce security resources, and still leverage the value of the CIS Controls program, community, and complementary tools and working aids.
Download the Implementation Groups Handout

Assess your risk with CIS RAM

CIS Risk Assessment Method is a free information security risk assessment method that helps organizations implement and assess their security posture against the CIS Controls cybersecurity best practices. CIS RAM provides instructions, examples, templates, and exercises for conducting a cyber risk assessment.
Download CIS RAM

Download the CIS RAM v2.1 brochure

Review CIS-RAM FAQs

CIS Controls v8 Multimedia Resources

Listen to the CIS Cybersecurity Where You Are Podcast or watch one of our webinars on-demand related to the CIS Controls v8 release.

Policy Templates

Enterprise Asset Management Policy Template

Using the CIS Critical Security Controls v8 as a starting point, enterprises can create an effective enterprise asset management policy.
Download the template

Companion Guides

A Blueprint for Ransomware Defense Using the CIS Controls

Whether your enterprise is big or small, you can't afford to take a passive approach to ransomware. The Blueprint provides a set of 40 Foundational and Actionable Safeguards from IG1 that will assist with ransomware defense while considering those SMEs that have limited cybersecurity expertise.
Download the Handout

Living off the Land: PowerShell

PowerShell is a robust tool that helps IT professionals automate a range of tedious and time-consuming administrative tasks.
Download the PowerShell Handout

CIS Controls Cloud Companion Guide

The CIS Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls) team has created guide to help organizations create secure cloud environments.
Download the Cloud Companion Guide for CIS Controls v8

CIS Controls Commonly Exploited Protocols Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI)

This guide will focus on a commonly exploited protocol, Windows Management Instrumentation (WMI) Remote Protocol, and the Safeguards an enterprise can implement, in part or whole, to reduce their attack surface or detect anomalies associated with the exploitation of WMI. The goal is to deliver a set of best practices from the CIS Controls, CIS Benchmarks™, or additional guidance, that all enterprises can use to protect against WMI facilitated attacks.
Download the WMI Guide

CIS Controls v8 Exploited Protocols Server Message Block (SMB)

The purpose of this guide is to focus on direct mitigations for SMB, as well as which best practices an enterprise can put in place to reduce the risk of an SMB-related attack.
Download the SMB Guide

CIS Controls v8 Privacy Companion Guide

The Privacy Guide supports the objectives of the CIS Controls by aligning privacy principles and highlighting potential privacy concerns that may arise through the usage of the CIS Controls.
Download the Privacy Companion Guide

Download the Portuguese version

Community Defense Model v2.0

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) Community Defense Model (CDM) v2.0 can be used to design, prioritize, implement, and improve an enterprise’s cybersecurity program. Enterprises naturally want to know how effective the CIS Critical Security Controls (CIS Controls) are against the most prevalent types of attacks. The CDM was created to help answer that and other questions about the value of the Controls based on currently available threat data from industry reports.
Download the Community Defense Model v2.0 Guide

Establishing Essential Cyber Hygiene

When tasked to implement a cybersecurity program, many enterprises ask “How do we get started?” In response, the CIS Controls Community sorted the Safeguards in the Controls into three Implementation Groups (IGs) based on their difficulty and cost to implement.
Download the Establishing Essential Cyber Hygiene

Guide to Enterprise Assets and Software

CIS simplified the language in v8 to provide enterprises guidance on how enterprise assets and software are organized in the CIS Controls and to help explain what we mean when we say things like “Establish and Maintain Detailed Enterprise Asset Inventory.
Download Guide to Enterprise Assets and Software

Internet of Things (IoT)

In this document, we provide guidance on how to apply the security best practices found in CIS Controls v8 to IoT environments.
Download Internet of Things Companion Guide

Mobile Guide

In this document, we provide guidance on how to apply the security best practices found in CIS Controls v8 to mobile environments. Organizations will be able to break down and map the applicable CIS Controls and their implementation in mobile environments.
Download Mobile Companion Guide