Are you looking for a practical, step-by-step guide to build and formalize a cybersecurity program using the NIST Cybersecurity Framework?
Quick verdict
You’ll find that Cyber Security Program and Policy Using NIST Cybersecurity Framework: NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), Book 2 is a hands-on manual focused on turning the CSF into usable, repeatable documents for your organization. The book emphasizes templates, real-world examples, and implementation guidance so you can move from theory to action without getting lost in jargon.
What this book is about
This book walks you through creating cybersecurity program documents and policies mapped to the NIST CSF functions so you can adopt a consistent, standards-based approach. The authors aim to make the CSF practical by supplying templates and sample policies that you can adapt to your environment and regulatory needs.
Author credentials
The guidance comes from the Convocourses group, and the authors hold ISC2 CISSP and CGRC certifications, which indicates a solid foundation in security architecture, risk management, and compliance. That credential mix suggests the content is rooted in real-world practice and aligned with recognized industry standards.
Who this book is for
You’ll get the most value if you’re responsible for building, updating, or formalizing cybersecurity programs, policies, or procedures in your organization. This is well suited for security managers, compliance officers, IT leaders, consultants, and team members preparing documentation for audits or executive review.
What you’ll get from the book
You’ll receive a structured walkthrough of NIST CSF functions, practical policy templates, and illustrative examples that show how to adopt and implement controls and processes. The material is designed to shorten your time-to-document and reduce uncertainty when you must produce consistent, defensible policies.
NIST CSF functions coverage
The book covers Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, and Recover—the five core CSF functions—showing how each function maps to policy and procedural documentation you can use. That mapping helps you ensure coverage across people, process, and technology while aligning to the widely accepted CSF taxonomy.
Templates and examples
You’ll find ready-to-use templates for policies, procedures, and program-level documentation so you can adapt them to your organization without starting from scratch. The included real-world example policies demonstrate tone, scope, and expected content which simplifies tailoring to your operational context.
Practical guidance and real-world application
The authors provide guidance on how to implement CSF concepts in various organizational sizes and maturity levels, with notes on common pitfalls and recommended sequencing. You’ll get actionable suggestions for translating framework objectives into measurable activities and governance artifacts.
Feature breakdown
The table below gives a concise view of the book’s primary offerings, what they mean for you, and the relative effort required to implement them.
| Feature | What it contains | How it helps you | Estimated effort to adopt |
|---|---|---|---|
| CSF Function Walkthrough | Detailed mapping of Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover | Ensures coverage and alignment with NIST terminology | Low to medium — reading and mapping required |
| Policy Templates | Prewritten policy documents (examples for various domains) | Speeds up documentation, ensures consistent structure | Low — adapt templates to fit your org |
| Procedure Templates | Step-by-step procedures tied to policies | Helps operationalize policies for teams | Medium — likely customization needed |
| Real-world Examples | Sample policies and scenarios from practice | Clarifies intent and suitable wording | Low — act as reference for drafting |
| Implementation Guidance | Sequencing, maturity advice, audit readiness tips | Helps you plan roll-out and governance | Medium — requires planning with stakeholders |
| Author Expertise | CISSP and CGRC certified practitioners | Adds credibility and practical focus | N/A |
| Target Audience Notes | For security leads, compliance officers, consultants | Helps you decide applicability | N/A |
Strengths
You’ll appreciate the practical orientation and abundance of usable templates, which significantly reduce time spent drafting from scratch. The emphasis on CSF mapping helps you align security work with a recognized framework, which is invaluable for audit, governance, and board reporting.
Practical templates
The templates are designed to be adaptable, so you can copy in language and adjust scope without worrying about structure or tone. You’ll likely save weeks of work compared to building equivalent documents from the ground up.
CSF-aligned structure
Because the content follows the CSF’s functions and categories, you’ll find it easy to demonstrate alignment during assessments, audits, or vendor reviews. Using a familiar taxonomy also eases cross-team communication with risk and compliance stakeholders.
Authors’ real-world focus
The Convocourses authors’ CISSP and CGRC backgrounds show in the practical considerations and governance mindset present in the documents. You’ll notice the examples balance security rigor with pragmatic operational needs.
Suitability for varied organizations
The guidance is applicable to organizations of different sizes because the book provides notes about scaling and tailoring documentation to smaller teams or more complex enterprises. You’ll be able to adapt policies to your control maturity and resource constraints.
Weaknesses
You should be aware that this book is focused on policy and program documentation rather than technical control implementation, so it won’t replace deep technical guides. If you’re looking for hands-on configuration steps or tool-specific instructions, you’ll need a complementary resource.
Not a substitute for technical playbooks
The book helps you define what should be done and who is responsible, but it won’t always show the exact technical configurations or monitoring rules for every tool. You’ll still need system-level documentation for engineers and SOC teams.
Customization still required
Although templates reduce effort, you’ll need to spend time customizing language, assignment of responsibilities, and integration points with HR, legal, and procurement processes. You’ll also need to align the templates with your organization’s legal and regulatory requirements.
Depth vs breadth trade-offs
Because the book aims to be broadly applicable, some niche industries or specialized control areas may need additional depth. You’ll likely supplement it with domain-specific guidance for healthcare, industrial control systems, or cloud-native architectures.
Assumes basic familiarity with CSF concepts
The book moves quickly to templates and implementation. If you’re entirely new to the CSF, you may need to read foundational NIST publications or a primer before using this book as your primary resource. You’ll benefit most if you have at least a working understanding of risk management and security basics.
How to use this book effectively
You’ll get the best results by treating the book as a practical drafting and program design toolkit rather than a theoretical textbook. Use the templates to accelerate policy production, then iterate with stakeholders to ensure real-world applicability.
Start with a gap assessment
Begin by matching your current policies and procedures against the CSF functions and the book’s examples to identify gaps. You’ll then prioritize high-impact areas to address first, rather than attempting an all-at-once rewrite.
Tailor templates to your governance model
Adjust policy language to reflect your organization’s decision-making hierarchy, approval paths, and exception processes. You’ll want to ensure responsibilities and escalation points are accurate for legal, HR, and IT intersections.
Use examples as conversation starters
The sample policies are excellent for stakeholder alignment because they show tone and expected content. You’ll find them helpful during workshops with business owners and legal counsel to agree on acceptable risk and operational constraints.
Implement in phases
Roll out policies incrementally, starting with critical domains like access management and incident response, then layering on less urgent policies. You’ll reduce change fatigue and demonstrate early wins, which helps secure continued buy-in.
Implementation tips and checklist
You’ll move faster and smoother if you follow a structured approach when adopting the book’s templates and recommendations. The checklist below helps you convert book content into operational artifacts.
- Identify stakeholders: Make a list of business owners, IT leads, HR, legal, and procurement who must sign off. You’ll need their buy-in early to avoid rework.
- Map current state: Inventory your existing policies, procedures, and controls and map them to CSF functions. You’ll see gaps and redundancy quickly.
- Prioritize by risk: Use simple risk criteria (impact and likelihood) to pick first policies to implement. You’ll focus effort where it matters most.
- Customize templates: Replace placeholders, add organization-specific scope, and insert the appropriate references to your systems and tools. You’ll reduce clarification questions later.
- Review and approve: Use formal review cycles with clear timelines for stakeholder feedback and legal review. You’ll capture objections early.
- Communicate and train: Announce new or revised policies and run targeted training for teams affected by the changes. You’ll boost compliance and correct application.
- Monitor and revise: Define simple metrics for adherence and schedule periodic policy reviews. You’ll keep documentation current and defensible.
Common pitfalls and how to avoid them
You’ll benefit from being aware of recurring implementation traps so you can sidestep them during adoption.
Overly generic policies
If you leave policies too abstract, teams may ignore them or interpret them inconsistently. You’ll avoid this by including clear responsibilities, measurable expectations, and references to procedures that show how to comply.
Unclear ownership
Policies that lack named owners and review cycles often become obsolete. You’ll fix this by assigning a policy owner, a review schedule, and escalation contact details within each document.
No integration with HR and procurement
Security policies that don’t tie into HR onboarding, offboarding, and procurement processes fail at execution. You’ll ensure enforceability by embedding policy references within HR and procurement workflows.
Trying to do everything at once
Attempting a full policy rewrite across every domain creates fatigue and delays. You’ll proceed faster by prioritizing high-risk areas and iterating gradually.
Comparison with other resources
You’ll find this book sits between high-level NIST guidance and deeply technical configuration guides, occupying a practical middle-ground for policy and program documentation.
Versus NIST original publications
NIST SP 800-series and the CSF provide conceptual models, control catalogues, and recommended practices but are often dense and conceptual. You’ll use this book to turn those high-level constructs into policies and procedures that your organization can implement.
Versus vendor or tool-specific guides
Vendor manuals and tool playbooks give concrete steps for automation and configuration, which is essential for technical teams. You’ll still need those when implementing controls; this book helps you write the governance and operating model into which those technical measures fit.
Versus certification study guides
CISSP or other certification materials focus on knowledge and exam prep; they’re less oriented to creating organizational documents. You’ll use this book as a companion resource if you’re trying to apply CISSP concepts into real policy documents.
Use cases and scenarios
You’ll find the book relevant in multiple contexts. The examples below show how you might use the content depending on your role and organization.
Small business with limited security staff
If you have a small IT team and limited budget, you’ll benefit from the templates to quickly produce essential policies like access control and incident response. The book helps you create defensible documentation for vendors and customers without requiring a large security staff.
Mid-size company formalizing security
When your organization grows and auditors or customers ask for formal policies, you’ll use the book to standardize language and show alignment with a recognized framework. The CSF mapping makes it easier for you to present a maturity roadmap to executives.
Enterprises preparing for audits or certifications
If you’re getting ready for audits, compliance checks, or certifications, you’ll use the book to fill documentation gaps and show consistent governance. The templates help you demonstrate that policies exist, are current, and link to procedures and controls.
Managed service providers (MSPs) and consultants
As an MSP or consultant, you’ll adapt the templates to client environments to speed policy delivery and improve service consistency. The real-world examples are useful in client conversations to illustrate scope and expectations.
Regulated industries (finance, healthcare)
If you operate in a regulated sector, you’ll use the CSF mapping as a bridge between regulatory requirements and your internal policies. The book provides a repeatable method to document controls for compliance reviewers while enabling you to insert industry-specific controls.
Practical examples from the book
You’ll find sample policies that show tone, scope, and enforcement language. These examples are useful reference points when you draft binding documents for your own teams.
- Access Control Policy example: The sample shows how to define roles, least privilege, and review cadence. You’ll use it to create a version suited to your directory and identity management stack.
- Incident Response Policy example: The book includes roles, escalation steps, and reporting lines, which you’ll adapt to your SOC or on-call model. You’ll appreciate the clear separation between policy-level statements and playbook procedures.
- Data Classification Policy example: The example helps you categorize data types and tie handling requirements to classification levels. You’ll use it to inform encryption, retention, and access controls.
How the book helps with governance and audits
You’ll notice that the documents are structured to support auditability: scope, purpose, roles, responsibilities, and review cycles are clearly defined. That structure helps you demonstrate due diligence and continuous improvement during reviews.
Traceability to controls
The CSF mapping included in the book allows you to point to specific functions and categories when an auditor asks how a policy addresses a control objective. You’ll shorten audit cycles and reduce ambiguity by providing clear links.
Evidence and artifacts
The book encourages linking policies to procedures, logs, training records, and assessment outcomes so you can present a coherent set of artifacts. You’ll make audit evidence collection much easier when you store these references centrally.
Pricing and value
You’ll evaluate the book based on time saved, reduced rework, and improved governance clarity. If producing high-quality policies internally would take weeks or months of staff time, the book’s templates and practical advice can provide significant ROI.
Cost-benefit considerations
The real value comes from accelerated document production and improved alignment with a widely accepted framework. You’ll likely find the time and compliance benefits justify the purchase if your organization needs to formalize or expand its program.
Final recommendation
If you’re tasked with building or formalizing cybersecurity programs and policies, you’ll find Cyber Security Program and Policy Using NIST Cybersecurity Framework: NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF), Book 2 to be a highly practical resource. It gives you actionable templates, clear CSF mapping, and implementation guidance that shorten your path to organized, auditable security governance.
Next steps you can take right now
Pick one high-priority policy area—such as access control or incident response—and use the book’s template to draft a first version. You’ll then schedule a quick stakeholder review, get approval, and run a short training session to operationalize the policy.
If you need additional support, consider pairing the book with vendor-specific playbooks or technical configuration guides so you can translate policies into monitoring rules, threat detection, and automation steps. You’ll get a complete program that covers governance, process, and technical control implementation.
Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.