Data Integrity: Identifying and Protecting Assets Against Ransomware and Other Destructive Events

Data breaches, ransomware, destructive malware, insider threats, and even honest mistakes present an ongoing threat to an organization’s infrastructure. Database records, system files, configurations, user files, applications, and customer data are all at risk should an attack occur. Organizations that do not implement identification and protection solutions leave themselves at risk for many types of data integrity attacks. 

Demonstrating methods for organizations to effectively identify and protect assets against data integrity attacks

The NCCoE Data Security Project Team collaborated with industry experts and technology vendors to develop a reference design using commercially available technologies that focuses on methods to effectively identify and protect assets that may become targets of data integrity attacks.
Status: Finalized Guidance

Upon review, we recognize that this NIST/NCCoE publication contains potentially biased terminology. As new publications are developed, they will follow NIST’s inclusive language guidance.

NIST SP 1800-25: Complete Guide (HTML)Web Version NIST SP 1800-25: Complete Guide (HTML)
NIST SP 1800-25: Complete Guide (PDF)Web Version NIST SP 1800-25: Complete Guide (PDF)
NIST SP 1800-25A: Executive SummaryDocument Version NIST SP 1800-25A: Executive Summary
NIST SP 1800-25B: Approach, Architecture, and Security CharacteristicsDocument Version NIST SP 1800-25B: Approach, Architecture, and Security Characteristics

Project Abstract

Applying the Cybersecurity Framework to data integrity, this practice guide demonstrates how to identify and protect assets against a data integrity attack. In collaboration with industry experts and technology vendors, the project includes development of a reference design that uses commercially available technologies in an example solution that helps organizations mitigate data integrity attacks. The solution isolates vulnerabilities that would allow for cybersecurity events to occur and implements strategies to remediate those vulnerabilities.  

Read the project description

Organizations that do not implement identification and protection solutions leave themselves at risk for many types of data integrity attacks.

Collaborating Vendors

Organizations participating in this project submitted their capabilities in response to an open call in the Federal Register for all sources of relevant security capabilities from academia and industry (vendors and integrators). The following respondents with relevant capabilities or product components (identified as “Technology Partners/Collaborators” herein) signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement to collaborate with NIST in a consortium to build this example solution.