NIS2 training for boards: Learn to protect your network & stay compliant

A typical Network and Information Systems (NIS) 2 Directive compliance programme takes 12 months to execute. Yet, NIS2 was transposed into EU Member States’ laws as of October 2024, challenging the hundreds of thousands of organisations subject to the new directive to step up NIS2 training.

The latest iteration of the EU’s cybersecurity efforts, NIS2 is an update to the original directive that passed in 2016. In 2023, the EU announced NIS2 with new focused areas and a broader reach, bringing even more organisations into the cybersecurity spotlight. If your organisation is one of them, now is the time to enhance your training programme. Here, we’ll explain precisely how, including:

• The importance of NIS2 compliance
• Benefits of comprehensive NIS2 training
• How an education and templates library can streamline your efforts to comply with NIS2
• Regulation-specific NIS2 training courses

Why is NIS2 training for compliance important?

NIS2 is a critical regulation that will govern the future of cybersecurity and IT in the EU. Organisations that do business there — including roughly 100,000 more than were covered under the original NIS standard — must adhere to a more robust, standardised framework. Training board members, senior leaders and practitioners in NIS2 compliance can help them guide the organisation in protecting sensitive data and infrastructure more effectively.

Training leadership and practitioners on NIS2 compliance matters because of:

• Enhanced security in essential sectors: NIS2 specifically targets sectors that handle high volumes of sensitive data, like healthcare, energy and financial services. Compliance helps secure these sectors and the data they manage, protecting vital infrastructure from cyberattacks.
• Unified standards: All member states must adhere to uniform standards, facilitating a more consistent approach to cybersecurity. This ensures organisations across the EU have comparable protection against and resilience to threats, a goal all board members and executives,like the CISO, should support.
• Reduced risk of disruptions: NIS2 includes rigorous measures for incident reporting, risk management and resilience planning. Organisations that embrace them can expect to be better prepared for and more responsive to cyber incidents, reducing the chances of disruption.
• Legal and financial consequences: Non-compliance with NIS2 can lead to significant fines, sanctions and even reputational damage. Training your board and leadership to adhere to the directive can keep your organisation in good standing with regulators and the public.
• Strengthened consumer trust: Organisations that take NIS2 seriously demonstrate to consumers that they care about sensitive data and essential services. This builds trust and enhances reputation among an increasingly cyber-conscious public.

4 clear benefits of NIS2 training

Investing in NIS2 training equips boards with the knowledge and skills to oversee compliance with this new standard. Organisations that prioritise cyber literacy and resilience benefit from:

• Improved performance: NIS2 board training isn’t just about the regulation. It teaches board members to better and more effectively protect your organisation’s sensitive data and infrastructure.
• Enhanced cybersecurity practices: Training allows boards to learn and apply cybersecurity best practices to their specific roles. This ensures that an understanding of NIS2 compliance influences organisational strategy and operational resilience.
• Savings: Executives can use training templates to jumpstart compliance processes related to NIS2. This saves time and money by consolidating compliance efforts and reducing instances of duplication and waste.
• Increased effectiveness: NIS2 training can increase executives’ literacy about critical cybersecurity topics. They can, in turn, drive more productive boardroom conversations, helping your organisation continue to lead on NIS2 rather than follow.

NIS2 training courses in the Diligent One Platform Education & Templates Library

Before your executives and board members can lead on NIS2, they must develop expertise and best practices. While the NIS2 directive includes extensive standards and frameworks, NIS2 training is designed to be more digestible and more applicable to the daily demands of modern business.

The Diligent Education & Templates Library, part of the Diligent One Platform, embeds NIS2 training within broader cyber risk and strategy learning to ensure your NIS2 knowledge never falls behind. Get an introduction to NIS2, dive deeper into governance and board oversight and get best practice guidance on preparing for key provisions of the NIS2 directive.

Despite the scrutiny surrounding NIS2, it’s not the only cybersecurity regulation your executives need to know. The Diligent Education & Templates Library also includes a deeper look at the broader cyber and data privacy landscape — including the latest in artificial intelligence (AI) — transforming your cybersecurity leadership from best guess to best in class.

NIS2 training: A regulation-specific module

An extension of Diligent’s existing cybersecurity training suite, our NIS2 training is tailored to help leaders gain the knowledge and tools to safeguard their organisation against cyber risks and comply with the stringent NIS2 standards.

Our library, created in partnership with CRMG, offers an in-depth analysis of the NIS2 core requirements, addresses compliance challenges and offers strategic insights for effective risk management. A series of four NIS2-specific courses will take your board through:

• An introduction to the directive: Starting with NIS2 awareness training, our introductory session gives board members a quick overview of the updated directive and its implications for network and information system security.
• Guidance on preparing for the directive: This course module includes a series of written best practices and short videos, offering a complete understanding of what it takes to achieve NIS2 compliance. Learn about key provisions, compliance obligations and actionable best practices to help you make progress.
• A look at key provisions: The NIS2 directive is lengthy and complex. This module will help your board members familiarise themselves with the regulation’s key pillars and core requirements governing incident response, risk management and supply chain security.
• A preparation checklist: Once your board and leadership understand the regulation, this NIS2 training course ends with a practical tool to aid compliance. This checklist includes the essential steps to prepare for NIS2, including specific risk management, incident response and governance measures.

Take your NIS2 compliance to the next level with Diligent

To meet the varied demands of the NIS2 Directive, a cohesive approach to governance, risk and compliance is essential. Organisations must have clear visibility into different areas of cybersecurity risk and third-party risk to provide the assurance required by management bodies.

The Diligent One Platform can help achieve this assurance. In addition to our Education & Templates Library, Diligent provides integrated tools that cover internal controls, enterprise and third-party risk and compliance, offering a single source of truth for risk practitioners and management bodies. This data is crucial for accurate decision-making, planning and swift action in the event of a significant cybersecurity incident.

We have also developed a NIS2 Compliance Toolkit to enhance your IT compliance while saving time and resources. This toolkit helps you build and maintain a trusted brand by demonstrating a strong commitment to NIS2 compliance and information security.

Our NIS2 Compliance Toolkit aligns the cybersecurity risk-management measures and obligations mandated by NIS2 for essential and important entities and their supply chains with a set of cybersecurity controls based on international standards and best practices.

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Discover how our Education & Templates Library and NIS2 Toolkit can enhance your compliance efforts.

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