What is CIS Compliance: Meaning, Benefits, and How to Comply

Cyber threats are escalating at an alarming rate, with businesses facing increasingly sophisticated attacks. The financial impact is staggering—global cybercrime costs are projected to reach $10.5 trillion annually in 2025^[1]. Industries like healthcare, finance, and telecommunications have seen record-breaking data breaches and ransomware attacks, emphasizing the urgent need for strong security measures.

To combat these threats, organizations are turning to robust cybersecurity frameworks like CIS compliance. Developed by the Center for Internet Security (CIS), this framework provides a practical, structured approach to protecting IT systems. With 18 prioritized security controls, CIS compliance helps businesses fortify their defenses, minimize vulnerabilities, and enhance cyber resilience

With no further ado, let’s take a closer look at what CIS compliance entails.

What is the Center for Internet Security (CIS)?

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) is a nonprofit organization focused on enhancing cybersecurity readiness and response for both private and public sectors. Best known for developing the CIS Controls and CIS Benchmarks, the organization provides globally recognized security guidelines to help organizations protect against pervasive cyber threats.

CIS Benchmarks are configuration guidelines developed through a collaborative effort involving cybersecurity experts, vendors, and government agencies. These benchmarks cover a wide range of systems—including operating systems, cloud environments, and network devices—and are updated regularly to reflect evolving threats.

By aligning your IT infrastructure with the recommendations from the Center for Internet Security (CIS), you can significantly reduce your exposure to known vulnerabilities and misconfigurations.

What is CIS compliance?

CIS compliance refers to an organization’s adherence to the security guidelines outlined in the CIS Controls and CIS Benchmarks. The CIS Controls are a set of 18 prioritized best practices designed to protect IT systems from security threats by focusing on critical areas such as network security, access management, and system monitoring. These controls are divided into three categories:

• Basic controls (1-6): Fundamental security measures for all organizations, such as asset management, secure configuration, and continuous vulnerability management.
• Foundational controls (7-16): Technical measures like email and web security, malware defenses, and data recovery strategies.
• Organizational controls (17-18): Policies and procedures for security governance and incident response.

The CIS benchmarks provide specific configuration recommendations for securing various operating systems, cloud environments, and software applications. These benchmarks are developed through community collaboration and are widely used by organizations to ensure secure configurations for platforms like Windows, Linux, macOS, AWS, and Kubernetes.

Staying compliant with the CIS  standards helps businesses ensure they have a strong security foundation, minimal vulnerabilities, and enhanced ability to detect and respond to cyber incidents.

History and evolution of CIS compliance

The Center for Internet Security (CIS) was founded in October 2000 as a nonprofit organization with the goal of enhancing cybersecurity readiness. Initially, CIS developed security benchmarks to guide IT professionals in securing their systems.

• Early 2000s: CIS released its first security benchmarks for Windows and Linux operating systems, providing organizations with prescriptive security hardening recommendations.
• 2010: The CIS Controls, formerly known as the SANS Critical Security Controls, were introduced based on real-world attack data and defense best practices.
• 2015-2018: The framework evolved further with enhanced alignment with other regulatory frameworks such as NIST Cybersecurity Framework, ISO 27001, and SOC 2.
• 2021 (CIS Controls v8): The latest version of CIS Controls was introduced to address cloud security, remote work environments, and modern threats such as ransomware.

With the rise of cloud computing, IoT, and advanced persistent threats, CIS has continued to update its controls and benchmarks to address evolving security challenges.

How to achieve CIS compliance?

Achieving CIS compliance means configuring your IT systems in line with the best practices outlined in the CIS Benchmarks—secure configuration standards developed by the Center for Internet Security (CIS). These benchmarks are designed to eliminate common security misconfigurations across operating systems, cloud environments, applications, and network devices.

Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how organizations can operationalize CIS compliance:

1. Identify applicable CIS Benchmarks

Start by mapping your IT inventory against the relevant CIS Benchmarks. For instance:

• CIS Microsoft Windows 11 Benchmark for Windows endpoints
• CIS Amazon Web Services Foundations Benchmark for AWS infrastructure
• CIS Google Workspace Benchmark for productivity suites
• CIS Cisco IOS Benchmark for network devices

Each benchmark provides prescriptive guidance for secure configuration, prioritized by risk and mapped to industry standards like NIST CSF and ISO 27001.

2. Conduct a CIS compliance audit

Next, perform a CIS compliance audit—a structured evaluation of your systems against the selected benchmark. This can be done using:

• Manual methods: Cross-referencing system configurations with the benchmark using scripts or CLI tools
• Automated scanners: Tools like OpenSCAP, Nessus, or vendor-specific audit tools can identify non-compliant settings at scale

A typical audit covers aspects such as password policies, user access controls, logging and monitoring, patch levels, and unused services.

3. Adopt a CIS compliance solution

To simplify and scale enforcement, organizations turn to an automated CIS compliance solution like Veltar. These solutions typically offer:

• Configuration management: Helps you enforce and remediate compliance settings in real time. 
• Continuous compliance monitoring: Get alerts when drift from benchmark standards is detected.
• Reporting and audit readiness: Generate compliance reports mapped to specific CIS policies 

Many Unified Endpoint Management (UEM), SIEM, and compliance platforms offer native support for CIS Benchmarks or allow custom profile integration.

4. Remediate non-compliance

Once non-compliant assets are identified, you need to:

• Prioritize remediation based on severity and impact.
• Automate patching and configuration changes wherever possible.
• Apply version-specific recommendations, since CIS guidelines are OS and version-dependent. 

For example, a benchmark for Windows Server 2022 will differ in critical ways from one for Windows Server 2016.

5. Maintain ongoing CIS compliance

CIS compliance is not a one-time project—it requires continuous governance. Best practices include:

• Periodic re-audits (monthly or quarterly)
• Real-time compliance dashboards
• Integrating CIS checks into CI/CD pipelines for cloud-native apps
• Training IT and security teams to understand benchmark rationales and justifications

Keeping up with updated benchmarks is also critical. The CIS Benchmarks are versioned and updated as new vulnerabilities and technologies emerge.

Why should organizations care about CIS compliance?

Adopting CIS compliance policies brings several key benefits to organizations, including:

Global recognition: Many government agencies, financial institutions, and large enterprises worldwide use CIS Controls as a benchmark for securing their IT infrastructure.

Improved security posture: Implementing CIS Controls significantly reduces the risk of cyberattacks by securing IT assets against known threats. Organizations that adhere to CIS compliance experience a significant decrease in successful cyber intrusions.

Regulatory alignment: Many compliance standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, PCI DSS, and FISMA, align with CIS policies, making it easier for organizations to meet multiple regulatory requirements.

Operational efficiency: CIS compliance promotes streamlined security practices, helping organizations automate security tasks, implement secure system configurations, and improve incident response times.

Cost savings: By proactively addressing security vulnerabilities, organizations can prevent costly data breaches. According to IBM’s Cost of a Data Breach Report, the average cost of a breach in 2023 was $4.45 million, making CIS compliance a cost-effective security investment.

5. Global recognition

Many government agencies, financial institutions, and large enterprises worldwide use CIS Controls as a benchmark for securing their IT infrastructure.

Who needs CIS compliance?

• Healthcare: Protecting patient data and complying with HIPAA regulations. Healthcare organizations use CIS Benchmarks for Windows and Linux to harden their servers and endpoints.
• Financial services: Ensuring secure transactions and safeguarding sensitive financial information. Banks and fintech companies implement CIS Controls for secure access management, data encryption and to ensure compliance with PCI DSS regulations. 
• Government: Strengthening national cybersecurity defenses. U.S. federal agencies utilize CIS Benchmarks for cloud security and endpoint protection.
• Retail & e-commerce: Securing online transactions and preventing fraud. CIS compliance policies help businesses align with PCI DSS standards for secure payment processing. Enforcing CIS policy compliance ensures that POS systems and e-commerce platforms are configured to resist cyberattacks and data leaks.
• Education: Protecting student records and preventing cyber threats targeting schools and universities. Many educational institutions follow CIS Controls to create a sustainable cybersecurity culture, prevent data breach and vulnerability issues and increase stakeholder reliance on the security of the organization. 
• Technology & cloud service providers: Ensuring secure software development and cloud infrastructure security. Leading cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud use CIS Benchmarks for secure default configurations.

CIS compliance framework vs. other security frameworks

While there are multiple cybersecurity frameworks available, CIS compliance framework stands out due to its practical approach. Here’s how it compares to other leading security frameworks:

• CIS vs. ISO 27001: ISO 27001 is a risk management-focused framework, whereas CIS provides specific technical controls for securing IT environments.
• CIS vs. SOC 2: SOC 2 is an auditing standard for service organizations, while CIS is a prescriptive security framework designed to improve IT security posture.
• CIS vs. NIST: NIST provides extensive cybersecurity guidelines, but CIS offers a more concise, action-oriented set of best practices that are easier to implement.

CIS compliance is widely adopted due to its practicality and alignment with modern cybersecurity threats, making it an ideal choice for businesses seeking an effective security framework.

Embracing CIS compliance for a secure future

With cyber threats increasing in complexity, organizations must take proactive steps to safeguard their digital assets. CIS compliance framework offers a proven methodology to strengthen security defenses, align with regulatory requirements, and enhance resilience against cyberattacks.

By adopting CIS Controls and Benchmarks, businesses can establish a robust security foundation and stay ahead of evolving threats. Whether you are a small business or a large enterprise, adhering to CIS compliance policies is a strategic investment in cybersecurity that ensures long-term protection and operational stability. Enterprise, embracing CIS compliance is a strategic investment in cybersecurity that ensures long-term protection and operational stability.

References:

1. Cobalt 

FAQs

1. What is a CIS Compliance tool?

A CIS compliance tool is software designed to automate the assessment, enforcement, and monitoring of security configurations based on CIS benchmarks. These tools scan IT systems to identify misconfigurations, generate reports, and provide recommendations for remediation. They help organizations streamline compliance efforts and maintain a strong security posture with minimal manual intervention.

2. How to perform a CIS compliance check?

A CIS compliance check involves assessing IT infrastructure against CIS benchmarks to identify security misconfigurations. This process is typically done using automated scanning tools that analyze system settings, network configurations, and application security. Once the check is completed, a report is generated highlighting areas of non-compliance, along with recommended corrective actions.

3. What is a CIS compliance audit?

A CIS compliance audit is a thorough review of an organization’s security controls and configurations to verify compliance with CIS benchmarks. It involves evaluating system hardening measures, access control policies, and network security settings. The audit provides insights into security gaps, ensures regulatory compliance, and helps organizations take corrective actions to strengthen their security posture.

4. How often should CIS compliance be reviewed or updated?

CIS compliance should be reviewed periodically to keep security configurations up to date with evolving threats and industry standards. Organizations typically conduct compliance reviews on a quarterly or semi-annual basis, but more frequent checks may be necessary for high-risk environments. Updates should also be performed whenever there are significant changes in IT infrastructure, such as software upgrades or new deployments. Regular reviews help ensure continuous security and adherence to best practices.

5. Is CIS compliance mandatory for all businesses?

CIS compliance is not legally mandatory, but it is highly recommended for organizations looking to strengthen their cybersecurity. While adherence is voluntary, many industries adopt CIS benchmarks as best practices to protect against cyber threats. Following CIS guidelines helps businesses improve security, reduce risks, and meet industry expectations for cybersecurity.