CIS Critical Security Control® 1: Foundation of a Strong Cybersecurity Program

Part One

Why the Foundation Matters 

In the world of cybersecurity, it’s often said: “You can’t protect what you don’t know you have.” That is the idea behind CIS Critical Security Control 1 Inventory and Control of Enterprise Assets.  

According to the Center of Internet Security (CIS), this control instructs organizations to “actively manage (inventory, track, and correct) all enterprise assets … connected to the infrastructure, physically, virtually, remotely, and those within cloud environments.” 

By keeping an accurate, up-to-date inventory of everything that connects to your network including end-user devices, servers, IoT devices, cloud instances, and mobile devices, your organization dramatically reduces blind spots and vulnerabilities. Once an organization realizes there are unaccounted for devices, it can apply security configuration baselines and remediate vulnerabilities.  

Key Benefits of Implementing CIS Critical Security Control 1 

1. Reduces Attack Surface 

When you know exactly what devices and systems are present in your environment, you can scan them for vulnerabilities, apply secure configuration baselines, and remove anything unauthorized or unmanaged. Attackers are continuously and aggressively scanning the internet address space of target enterprises identifying unprotected assets attached to enterprises’ networks. Even if your organization is in a less regulated industry, such as manufacturing, attackers are still probing your environment.  

By discovering all assets and ensuring only approved ones are connected, you shrink the number of ways attackers can get in and/or move laterally. 

2. Enables faster, More Effective Incident Response 

In the event of a breach or suspicious activity, the speed and completeness of your response often depend on how well you know your assets. With a solid asset inventory: 

• You can immediately identify which machines might have been compromised. 

• You can quickly assess what devices are similar and/or connected and potentially at risk for compromise. CIS highlights one of the benefits of full enterprise asset management is supporting incident response by enabling organizations to “identify all potentially vulnerable, or impacted, assets of similar type or location during an incident.” 

3. Improved Patch and Configuration Management 

Inventory leads to insights. If you know what devices exist, who owns them, when they were last updated, what their configuration is, then you can more reliably ensure they are patched, configured securely, and monitored. Without current inventory, you will always have “unknowns” in your environment. 

4. Better Visibility for Cloud, Mobile, IoT and Hybrid Environments 

Modern IT environments are far from simple. There are cloud instances, remote workforce devices, IoT devices, virtual machines, VLANs, and other technologies. CIS Critical Security Control #1 explicitly calls for inventory of assets “physically, virtually, remotely, and … within cloud environments.” 

That means you’re not only tracking on-prem desktops and servers, but also shadow devices, temporary guest systems, mobile endpoints, and cloud workloads. Such visibility helps guard against hidden threats creeping in through unconventional paths. 

5. Foundation for Risk Management and Compliance 

Knowing what you own and what it’s used for is a risk-management prerequisite. Asset management is critical for effective risk assessments, patch management, and control enforcement, ensuring that all devices are accounted for in the organization’s security ecosystem. 

Many regulatory standards or frameworks talk about “asset inventory,” “configuration management,” “baseline management,” including the NIST Cyber Security Framework, and ISO 27001. By implementing the CIS Critical Security Control #1, you not only strengthen your organization’s cyber security, but you’re also better positioned for audit-readiness and demonstrating governance.  

6. Foundation for the Other CIS Critical Security Controls 

Critical Security Control 1 is a “basic” or “foundational” control in the CIS framework and is the first of many. If your organization implements this control effectively, you set a baseline for subsequent controls (e.g., software inventory, vulnerability management, access control). Without the asset inventory in place, downstream controls are harder to implement, because you may still be guessing what you have. As one commentary notes: “The first control … emphasizes maintaining a comprehensive inventory of all enterprise assets … This foundational control is crucial for understanding an organization’s asset landscape and serves as a stepping-stone for subsequent controls.”  

Practical Considerations and Tips

1. Start simple, then automate. You might begin with a spreadsheet of known assets, but automation tools (active discovery, passive discovery accelerate identification and tracking of assets. 

2. Define ownership and approval. Each asset should be associated with an owner, department, device name, MAC address and approval for network access.  

3. Address unauthorized assets promptly. It’s not enough to know what’s on your networks. An organization must act when unknown or unauthorized devices appear by contacting the owner and remediating, quarantining, or disconnecting from the network. 

4. Keep the inventory current. Assets are fluid — new devices join, old ones leave, VMs get spun up and down, mobile users roam. Regular updates (weekly, monthly) are vital. 

5. Don’t forget non-traditional assets. Printers, IoT devices, guest tablets, contractors’ devices, cloud workloads are all assets that must be tracked. Many breaches have exploited “shadow devices” that weren’t tracked. 

6. Integrate with other processes. Use the asset inventory to support patching, configuration management, incident response, network segmentation, etc. Because inventory is the “what,” everything else becomes the “how” and “when.” 

Final Thoughts 

In today’s cyber threat environment, organizations of all sizes face relentless scanning, probing, and exploitation attempts. Yet many are hampered by something surprisingly basic: a lack of visibility into their own digital and physical assets. By implementing CIS Critical Security Control 1 Inventorying and controlling all enterprise assets organizations tackle this blind-spot head-on. 

It’s not flashy. It doesn't involve exotic technology or glamorous tools. But the return on investment can be enormous: fewer unknown devices, faster incident detection, better compliance posture, and a strong foundation for the rest of your cybersecurity program. In short, you defend what you know. 

By ensuring a complete and up-to-date inventory of all hardware and technology assets, organizations gain the visibility needed to secure their environment, mitigate risk, and promptly respond to incidents. 

If you’re thinking of where to begin in strengthening your cyber hygiene, starting with Critical Security Control 1 is smart, practical, and high leverage. 

For deeper insights, explore our additional blogs on cybersecurity frameworks to strengthen your understanding and application. 

Cybersecurity Frameworks: A Strategic Guide for Business Leaders 

How to Keep Your Cyber Risk Strategy Agile and Effective