Guide | Supporting NIS2 with SASE

Supporting NIS2 Requirements With SASE

The European Union’s NIS2 Directive is here and in force, or is it? If there’s one thing we can say for sure about NIS2 is that it’s creating a lot of confusion and uncertainty, especially around responsibility. About half of all European countries have put NIS2 into force, but even then, we’ve yet to see consistent enforcement. In essence, everyone is compliant until they’re not. And that’s the key point right now: organizations have a window to strengthen their security posture before enforcement becomes more consistent. The companies preparing now won’t face the dual challenge of managing an incident and demonstrating compliance simultaneously. If your team is wondering what they can do to better align with the NIS2 framework, an efficient first step is to adopt a secure access service edge (SASE) solution for controlling access to company data. Here’s why.

What is NIS2?

NIS2 creates a standard set of cybersecurity requirements for organizations providing essential or important services to EU member states. These organizations must meet standards in four high-level domains:

• Risk Management: Organizations should manage their cyber risks via incident response, supply chain security, network security, access control, and the use of encryption.
• Corporate Accountability: Corporate management is accountable for the organization’s security and should take an active, informed role in cyber risk management.
• Reporting Obligations: NIS2 defines reporting requirements for significant security incidents, including a 24-hour “early warning” and follow-up reporting.
• Business Continuity: Affected organizations should have business continuity strategies in place, including creating recovery plans, emergency procedures, and a crisis response team.

Within these domains, the directive also defines a set of minimum cybersecurity risk-management measures. In practice, you can think of these as ten core requirements organizations are expected to implement:

1. Perform risk assessments and implement security policies for IT systems.
2. Implement policies and procedures for the use of cryptography and encryption.
3. Secure and manage vulnerabilities in system procurement.
4. Implement security procedures for users who can access sensitive data.
5. Use multi-factor authentication (MFA), continuous authentication, and encrypted communications when appropriate.
6. Evaluate the effectiveness of the security controls put in place.
7. Plan for incident detection and response.
8. Train employees on basic computer hygiene.
9. Plan for business continuity and disaster recovery (backups, continued access, etc.).
10. Secure the supply chain and how the company manages potential vulnerabilities in third-party relationships.

Many of these measures depend on how users, third parties, and systems connect to critical applications and data. That’s where SASE becomes highly relevant.

Who Is Affected by NIS2?

Companies that must comply with the NIS2 Directive include a wide swath of businesses such as power grid providers, oil and gas producers, banks, wealth managers, online marketplaces, water treatment facilities, automotive manufacturers, hospitals, healthcare providers, food wholesalers, and more. It’s a huge list that includes a mix of companies the EU considers essential entities (EEs) and important entities (IEs). By complying with the NIS 2 Directive, these organizations can reduce the risk of cyberattacks resulting in significant repercussions for EU citizens.

Where Does SASE Fit in?

There are several requirements in NIS2 that overlap with what a SASE solution provides. When evaluating SASE, look for capabilities that support:

• Access control and secure connectivity: NIS2 expects strong control over who can access which systems and data, from where, and under what conditions. A SASE platform enforces this with granular, identity-based Zero Trust access, continuous verification, and least-privilege policies, with MFA and device posture checks helping prevent unauthorized access and lateral movement.
• Secure remote and hybrid work: NIS2 requires organizations to protect their networks and maintain continuity as work becomes more distributed. SASE secures users anywhere—remote, hybrid, or on-premises—so the same policies follow users and devices regardless of location, supporting secure remote access and resilient operations.
• Incident prevention and risk reduction: NIS2 emphasizes reducing the likelihood and impact of cyber incidents. Built-in web filtering and threat protection in SASE guard users against malicious sites, phishing, and malware.
• Incident detection and reporting: To satisfy NIS2’s strict notification timelines, organizations need clear visibility into what’s happening on their networks. SASE provides centralized logging and monitoring, giving security teams the data they need to detect incidents faster, investigate them, and support the reporting requirements defined in the directive.

Consistent controls and third-party governance:

NIS2 expects organizations to evaluate the effectiveness of their security controls and manage risks stemming from suppliers and third parties. Centralized policy management in SASE makes it easier to apply and maintain consistent controls across users, locations, and external partners, and to demonstrate how those controls are enforced in practice.

Check Point SASE and NIS2

Check Point SASE Private Access aligns with NIS2’s access control and risk-management expectations. It delivers robust, granular Zero Trust Network Access rules that help enforce least-privilege access to critical applications. By limiting who can reach which apps and restricting lateral movement in the event of an intrusion, it supports NIS2’s focus on strong access control and containment.

For NIS2’s requirements around incident prevention, risk reduction, and business continuity, Check Point SASE Internet Access extends important protections to users, including web filtering and advanced threat prevention. Our hybrid architecture, combining on-device and cloud capabilities, delivers this security with high performance—helping organizations keep users protected without undermining productivity or availability. Check Point SASE also provides centralized visibility and logging to assist with NIS2’s incident detection, reporting, and ongoing governance obligations. Logs are integrated with Check Point’s Infinity Events, allowing customers to see their cybersecurity estate within a single platform. This helps security teams detect and investigate incidents faster, support NIS2 reporting timelines, and continuously monitor the effectiveness of their controls across users, locations, and third parties.