What Is the NIS2 Directive?
The NIS2 Directive, officially known as Directive (EU) 2022/2555, is a European Union law focused on improving cybersecurity across the Union. It replaces the original NIS directive (NIS1) and aims to improve the resilience of digital services against cyber threats, particularly in critical infrastructure sectors. NIS2 expands the scope of covered sectors, strengthens security requirements, and increases the severity of penalties for non-compliance.
Under NIS2, organizations in critical sectors—such as energy, transport, health, and digital infrastructure—must implement minimum cybersecurity measures and actively manage and report security incidents.
The directive also sets a higher bar for risk management, governance, and supply chain security. New enforcement mechanisms and penalties have been established, encouraging organizations to prioritize resilience, proactive risk assessment, and incident transparency.
Why Is NIS2 Significant for Cybersecurity?
The NIS2 Directive marks a shift in how the EU approaches cybersecurity by broadening its scope and introducing stricter requirements. Unlike the original NIS Directive, which focused on a limited set of critical sectors, NIS2 covers a wider range of organizations. This ensures that more companies—especially those offering essential or important services—are held to higher cybersecurity standards.
One of the most important contributions of NIS2 is its emphasis on early detection and response. It introduces more rigorous incident reporting rules, enabling faster reaction to cyber threats at both national and EU levels. This serves as a shared early warning system, helping to limit the damage caused by attacks.
NIS2 also promotes collaboration between EU member states, aligning national cybersecurity strategies and fostering cross-border coordination. This unified approach makes it harder for cyber attackers to exploit gaps between jurisdictions.
For organizations, NIS2 brings both challenge and opportunity. Meeting its requirements will demand investment in security infrastructure and processes. However, it also provides a framework for improving trust, especially as more services move online.
NIS2 Cybersecurity Aspects and Requirements
Cybersecurity Risk Management Requirements
NIS2 requires organizations to implement risk management practices tailored to their operational context. This means not only identifying risks but actively prioritizing and mitigating them through appropriate technical and organizational measures.
These measures include asset management, information classification, access controls, network segmentation, and regular security testing. Organizations must also ensure that their suppliers and partners adhere to comparable security standards.
The directive expects risk management to be proactive and documented. This involves conducting regular risk assessments, updating security measures as new threats emerge, and maintaining an audit trail of security decisions and actions. Boards and leadership teams must be able to demonstrate due diligence and ongoing improvement in cyber risk governance.
Incident Reporting Obligations
Timely incident reporting is a key obligation under NIS2. Organizations must establish internal processes to detect, report, and respond to cybersecurity incidents that could significantly disrupt their services.
The directive sets strict timelines for initial notification, often within 24 hours of becoming aware of an incident, with subsequent updates and a final report detailing impact and remediation. This rapid reporting enables relevant authorities to coordinate responses and issue warnings to other potential targets.
These requirements foster a culture of openness and accountability. Organizations need to provide staff with clear guidance on recognizing incidents, escalation routes, and notification criteria to ensure compliance. The ability to collect and communicate accurate, actionable information on incidents supports a collective defense across sectors and borders.
Governance and Accountability
NIS2 increases requirements for strong cybersecurity governance at all organizational levels. Senior management and boards bear direct responsibility for setting the tone, funding, and oversight of cybersecurity measures.
The directive introduces a legal obligation for company leadership to both understand and actively manage cyber risks, including regular reviews of security performance. Leaders are expected to foster a security-centric culture and ensure the allocation of sufficient resources to address identified vulnerabilities.
Significant non-compliance can result in sanctions, including substantial financial penalties and personal liability for executives. Documented policies, formalized risk ownership, and training at the leadership level all increase the likelihood of sustained improvement and proactive, rather than reactive, risk management.
Supervision and Enforcement
NIS2 introduces a stronger supervisory framework, giving national authorities wider powers to monitor, audit, and enforce compliance. Supervisory bodies can conduct investigations, request evidence of security practices, perform on-site inspections, and require remedial actions from organizations found lacking.
Fines for non-compliance, particularly for repeated or willful shortcomings, have increased significantly compared to the original NIS Directive. Real-time supervision enables authorities to respond more quickly to emerging threats and sector-specific risks.
By requiring organizations to cooperate with audits and investigations, the directive creates clear incentives to maintain up-to-date documentation and continuous improvement. Transparent enforcement mechanisms ensure that cybersecurity standards are not optional guidelines but legally binding obligations.
Enhanced Cooperation Between Member States
A critical feature of NIS2 is its focus on improved cooperation between member states, enabling coordinated responses to cross-border cyber threats. The directive mandates information sharing, joint incident response exercises, and the establishment of structured communication channels among EU cybersecurity authorities.
This cooperation is designed to address incidents that may quickly propagate across national borders. By fostering collaboration, NIS2 increases the EU’s collective cyber resilience and reduces the risk of fragmented or duplicated efforts. Member states benefit from shared expertise, pooled resources, and a unified approach to regulation and enforcement.
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Tips from the Expert
In my experience, here are tips that can help you better adapt to the topic of application dependency mapping (ADM):
Implement a phased approach
Start with critical applications and their dependencies before expanding to less critical ones. This helps manage complexity and prioritize key areas first.
Regularly update dependency maps
Ensure maps are continuously updated to reflect changes in the environment. Automate this process where possible to maintain accuracy.
Integrate with CI/CD pipelines
Embed ADM tools within your CI/CD workflows to identify potential dependency issues early in the development lifecycle, reducing downstream problems.
Conduct dependency audits
Periodically review and audit application dependencies to identify outdated, redundant, or vulnerable components, ensuring they are replaced or upgraded as needed.
Leverage AI and machine learning
Use AI-driven ADM tools to predict and identify hidden dependencies and potential bottlenecks, enhancing overall visibility and performance.
Best Practices for NIS2 Cybersecurity Compliance
Organizations should consider the following cybersecurity best practices to ensure compliance with NIS2.
1. Strengthen Supply Chain Security
NIS2 places a high priority on supply chain security, as vulnerabilities can be introduced through third-party vendors or partners. Organizations must conduct thorough due diligence on suppliers, ensuring they meet defined security standards and contractual obligations regarding data protection and incident notification. Formal risk assessments and regular audits of critical suppliers help identify weak links before they can be exploited.
Supply chain security also requires ongoing monitoring and incident response capabilities. Establishing clear lines of communication, setting baseline security requirements, and collaborating on joint risk mitigation efforts with key partners are key.
2. Develop a Business Continuity and Crisis Management Plan
NIS2 compliance demands that organizations be prepared to maintain critical operations during and after a cyber incident. A business continuity plan identifies essential functions, assigns clear responsibilities, and outlines strategies for operating during emergencies. Regular testing and drills ensure that staff know their roles and that plans are practical and effective under stress.
Crisis management extends beyond technical fixes, encompassing communication with regulators, customers, and partners. Clear escalation paths, designated spokespersons, and predefined messaging templates are essential for minimizing confusion and reputational harm. NIS2 expects organizations to demonstrate technical resilience as well as structured, timely communications and coordinated crisis response.
3. Embed Security by Design in System Development
NIS2 requires organizations to adopt security-by-design principles during the development of new systems and technology. This means integrating security requirements into each stage of the software development lifecycle, ensuring vulnerabilities are minimized before systems go live. Secure coding standards, code reviews, and automated vulnerability scanning are practical steps in this process.
Post-deployment, security by design also entails regular updates, prompt patching of vulnerabilities, and incorporating lessons learned from previous incidents back into development workflows. Documentation requirements are higher, making it easier to demonstrate that security was not an afterthought.
4. Implement Incident Response Procedures
A well-defined incident response procedure is essential for minimizing the impact of cyber incidents and fulfilling NIS2’s strict reporting obligations. Organizations should establish multidisciplinary response teams, document response playbooks, and run regular incident simulations. Clear roles, escalation paths, and external communication protocols enable teams to act quickly and efficiently under pressure.
Incident response should be integrated with other business functions, such as legal, communications, and executive leadership. Lessons learned from each incident should inform updates to policies and procedures, creating a cycle of continuous improvement. Immediate and accurate reporting to authorities fulfills legal requirements and can mitigate regulatory penalties.
5. Provide Ongoing Cybersecurity Training
NIS2 compliance hinges on building a security-aware workforce, as human error remains a leading cause of breaches. Organizations should implement regular, role-specific cybersecurity training programs covering phishing, password hygiene, secure device usage, and incident reporting. Ongoing education helps staff recognize threats and understand both their responsibilities and the consequences of non-compliance.
Beyond initial onboarding, refresher courses, simulated phishing campaigns, and targeted training for executives and technical staff keep security awareness current and relevant. Metrics and assessments allow organizations to gauge effectiveness and identify gaps for improvement.
Achieving NIS2 Cybersecurity Requirements with Faddom
To meet the stringent visibility, governance, and incident response requirements of the NIS2 Directive, organizations must go beyond traditional security tools. They require continuous, real-time insights into the connections between their systems and applications to identify vulnerabilities, enforce segmentation, and prepare accurate reports in the event of incidents.
Faddom offers precisely this capability. As an agentless application dependency mapping platform, it provides IT and security teams with a complete, continuously updated view of their on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments. By automatically discovering servers, business applications, and their dependencies, Faddom enables organizations to assess risks, bolster defenses, and respond swiftly to incidents.
For organizations aiming to comply with NIS2 while also enhancing operational resilience, Faddom stands out as the most effective and reliable platform available.
Discover how Faddom can support your NIS2 compliance strategy by booking a demo using the form on the right!
