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SCF CORE Initiative

SCF CORE — Cybersecurity Oversight, Resilience & Enablement

Tailored control sets for specific organization types and risk profiles — purpose-built by the SCF Council for real-world operational realities.

7

CORE Sets

68

Controls

20

Domains

FREE

Creative Commons

Go To The SCF Download PageExplore Additional SCF Content

Common Controls Framework™

The SCF is the exclusive, trademarked Common Controls Framework™ (CCF™) — a Living Control Set with 33 domains, 1,400+ controls, and mappings to 200+ laws, regulations & frameworks. Free. Always.

SCF CORE is a subset initiative — 68 controls from the broader 1,400+ control catalog, tailored for SMBs and specific operational contexts.

About SCF CORE

Purpose-Built Control Sets for Every Organization

The SCF Council created the CORE initiative to address a critical gap: while the full SCF catalog provides comprehensive coverage, many organizations — especially small and mid-sized businesses — need a focused, actionable starting point.

The CORE initiative defines 7 tailored control sets on its 2025 roadmap, each calibrated to specific organization types, sizes, and risk profiles. These are not arbitrary subsets — each CORE set is derived from the broader CCF™ using SCF’s set theory relationship mapping (STRM) methodology.

The SCF was notably recognized in Texas Senate Bill 2610, which names SCF as meeting cybersecurity framework adequacy for purposes of providing legal protection to businesses implementing reasonable cybersecurity practices — the first time a state legislature directly referenced the SCF in statute.

Volunteer-Driven. Creative Commons Licensed.

All SCF CORE content is developed by volunteer cybersecurity practitioners and released under Creative Commons licensing. There is no cost to access or implement SCF CORE.

7

CORE Sets on 2025 Roadmap

68

CORE Fundamentals Controls

20

Domains Covered

5%

Of Full SCF Catalog

Legal Recognition

Texas SB 2610 — Why SCF CORE Matters

Texas Senate Bill 2610 represents a landmark moment for SMB cybersecurity. The law provides legal protection for Texas businesses that implement and maintain a recognized cybersecurity framework — and SCF CORE Fundamentals is specifically designed to meet those requirements.

Under SB 2610, businesses that implement reasonable cybersecurity practices gain an affirmative defense against data breach liability claims. The SCF was recognized in the legislative process as a framework meeting adequacy standards.

Legal Protection Through Reasonable Cybersecurity

The law’s affirmative defense applies when organizations can demonstrate implemented, documented cybersecurity controls that are appropriate to their size, complexity, and the sensitivity of data they handle.

SCF CORE Fundamentals Meets Requirements For:

✓ Administrative Safeguards — Governance, HR, risk management, and compliance controls

✓ Technical Safeguards — Identity management, network security, cryptography, endpoint protection

✓ Physical Safeguards — Physical & environmental security controls

✓ Data Integrity Protection — Change management, monitoring, data classification controls

✓ Unauthorized Access Prevention — IAM, network segmentation, encryption at rest & in transit

Third-Party Assessable

SCF-CAP assessment guides provide a structured path to third-party validated conformity, creating documented evidence of SB 2610 compliance posture.

2025 Roadmap

SCF CORE — 7 Tailored Control Sets

Each CORE set targets a distinct organization type, risk profile, or operational context. The SCF CORE tailored control sets can be found within the full SCF catalog using STRM methodology, so feel free to download the SCF to explore these control sets!

SCF CORE Fundamentals

Available Now

68 controls across 20 domains for smaller entities. Specifically designed to meet Texas SB 2610 reasonable cybersecurity requirements.

SCF CORE MA&D

Available Now

Mergers, Acquisitions & Divestitures control set — cybersecurity requirements specific to M&A transaction environments.

SCF CORE ESP Level 1

Available Now

Essential Security Practices — Foundational control set for organizations beginning their cybersecurity program journey.

SCF CORE ESP Level 2

Available Now

Essential Security Practices — Critical Infrastructure control set for organizations operating critical systems and services.

SCF CORE ESP Level 3

Available Now

Essential Security Practices — Advanced Threats control set for organizations facing sophisticated threat actor activity.

SCF CORE AI-Enabled Ops

Available Now

Controls for organizations deploying AI/ML tools within their operations — governance, risk, and security requirements.

SCF CORE AI Model Deployment

Available Now

Controls specific to organizations building, training, and deploying AI/ML models — addressing AI-specific risk surfaces.

SCF CORE Fundamentals

68 Controls Across 20 Domains

These 68 controls represent just 5% of the SCF’s 1,400+ controls — precision-selected and tailored for small and mid-sized businesses.

MCR — Minimum Compliance Requirements

Controls that represent the minimum bar required by external obligations — laws, regulations, and contracts. These are non-negotiable; not implementing them creates legal or contractual exposure.

✓ Externally influenced (laws, regs, contracts)
✓ "Must have" — non-discretionary
✓ Fact-finding, not risk assessment
✓ Forms compliance baseline

DSR — Discretionary Security Requirements

Controls selected based on the organization’s own risk appetite and judgment. These go beyond the minimum — they represent best-practice enhancements driven by internal risk management.

✓ Internally influenced (risk-based decisions)
✓ "Nice to have" — risk-informed choices
✓ Based on threat landscape and asset sensitivity
✓ Elevates posture beyond compliance floor

Use Case

Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM)

SCF CORE Fundamentals serves as an effective TPRM baseline — organizations can use it to assess vendors, suppliers, and service providers against a standardized control set calibrated to SMB realities.

When used for TPRM, CORE Fundamentals provides a structured questionnaire framework across all 20 domains, with built-in weighting based on control criticality. The SCF’s External Reference Library (ERL) links each control to authoritative sources for evidence verification.

TPRM Assessment Components in SCF CORE:

• Control questionnaire — 68 questions mapped to control objectives • Control weighting — based on MCR vs DSR classification • External Reference Library (ERL) — evidence source links • Assessment Observations (AOs) — examiner guidance • Risk and threat catalog crosswalk • Scoring methodology for aggregate risk rating

Assessment & Certification

Third-Party Assessable

SCF CORE Fundamentals is designed to be independently assessed through the SCF Conformity Assessment Program (SCF-CAP). Organizations seeking documented, third-party validated conformity — including for Texas SB 2610 purposes — can engage an SCF-authorized assessor.

✓ SCF-CAP Assessment Guides — structured evaluation methodology ✓ Third-party validated conformity statements ✓ Defensible audit evidence portfolio ✓ Texas SB 2610 affirmative defense documentation ✓ Assessment conducted by SCF Authorized 3PAOs

Implementation Cycle

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)

SCF CORE Fundamentals is designed to operate within a continuous PDCA improvement cycle — not as a one-time compliance exercise.

Phase 1

PLAN

Identify applicable controls. Assess current state vs CORE Fundamentals baseline. Define remediation priorities and resource requirements. Establish risk appetite and MCR obligations.

Phase 2

DO

Implement controls across all 20 domains. Document policies, standards, and procedures. Deploy technical controls. Train personnel. Engage third-party assessor if pursuing SCF-CAP.

Phase 3

CHECK

Monitor control effectiveness. Conduct internal assessments against CORE Fundamentals criteria. Review Evidence Request List (ERL) satisfaction. Validate against MCR obligations.

Phase 4

ACT

Remediate gaps identified in the Check phase. Update policies and standards. Elevate from CORE Fundamentals toward higher-maturity control sets (ESP Level 1, 2, 3) as organizational capacity grows.

Creative Commons — No Cost

Download SCF CORE Fundamentals — Free

All 68 controls, assessment guides, MCR/DSR classifications, ERL references, and TPRM questionnaire templates. Available in Excel (.xlsx) and CSV formats with NIST OSCAL JSON export.

Go To The SCF Download PageExplore Additional SCF Content

Licensed under Creative Commons. Volunteer-driven by the SCF Council. No registration required.

Control Catalog

All 68 SCF CORE Fundamentals Controls

Organized by domain. Each control is drawn from the full CCF™ and calibrated to SMB implementation realities.

GOV — Governance (3 Controls)

GOV-01 — Cybersecurity Program: Establish and maintain a cybersecurity program.
GOV-02 — Publishing Cybersecurity Policies: Develop, document, and disseminate policies.
GOV-04 — Cybersecurity Risk Management: Establish a risk management process.

AST — Asset Management (5 Controls)

AST-01 — Asset Inventories: Maintain inventories of hardware and software assets.
AST-02 — Asset Ownership: Assign ownership and accountability for each asset.
AST-03 — Asset Custodianship: Assign custodial responsibilities.
AST-04 — Asset Classification: Classify assets by sensitivity and criticality.
AST-07 — Secure Disposal: Securely dispose of assets when no longer needed.

BCD — Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery (2 Controls)

BCD-01 — Business Continuity Management: Implement a business continuity program.
BCD-11 — Data Backups: Maintain backups per recovery time and point objectives.

CHG — Change Management (2 Controls)

CHG-01 — Change Management Program: Control changes to systems and infrastructure.
CHG-02 — Configuration & Change Management: Maintain configurations and manage changes.

CLD — Cloud Security (2 Controls)

CLD-01 — Cloud Services: Controls governing use of cloud services.
CLD-02 — Cloud Security Architecture: Apply security architecture to cloud environments.

CPL — Compliance (1 Control)

CPL-01 — Statutory & Regulatory Compliance: Track all applicable obligations.

CFG — Configuration Management (2 Controls)

CFG-01 — Configuration Management Program: Baseline and control system configurations.
CFG-02 — Baseline Configuration: Maintain baseline security configurations.

MON — Monitoring (3 Controls)

MON-01 — Continuous Monitoring: Monitor systems to detect cybersecurity events.
MON-02 — Audit Logging: Capture security-relevant events across systems.
MON-07 — Log Protection: Protect audit logs from unauthorized access.

CRY — Cryptographic Protections (3 Controls)

CRY-01 — Use of Cryptographic Controls: Policies governing cryptographic controls.
CRY-03 — Transmission Confidentiality: Encrypt data transmitted across networks.
CRY-09 — Encryption for Data at Rest: Encrypt sensitive data at rest.

DCH — Data Classification & Handling (5 Controls)

DCH-01 — Data Classification: Classify data by sensitivity levels.
DCH-02 — Data Handling: Implement handling procedures based on classification.
DCH-06 — Sensitive Data Transfer: Controls governing transfer of sensitive data.
DCH-12 — Data Retention & Disposal: Retain and securely dispose of data.
DCH-19 — Data Privacy: Protect privacy of personal information.

END — Endpoint Security (2 Controls)

END-01 — Endpoint Protection: Deploy and maintain endpoint protection solutions.
END-02 — Endpoint Device Management: Device management controls for organizational devices.

HRS — Human Resources Security (2 Controls)

HRS-01 — Human Resources Security Management: HR security controls for employment lifecycle.
HRS-04 — Termination & Transfer: Revoke access and return assets when employment ends.

IAC — Identity & Access Control (10 Controls)

IAC-01 — Identity & Access Management: Govern user identity and access rights.
IAC-02 — Identify & Authenticate Users: Uniquely identify and authenticate all users.
IAC-06 — Multi-Factor Authentication: MFA for sensitive systems and privileged accounts.
IAC-07 — Least Privilege: Grant minimum access necessary for job functions.
IAC-08 — Role-Based Access Control: Manage permissions based on job responsibilities.
IAC-09 — Privileged Account Management: Enhanced controls for privileged accounts.
IAC-10 — Account Management: Manage accounts through their full lifecycle.
IAC-12 — Password Management: Complexity, expiration, and reuse restrictions.
IAC-16 — Remote Access: Secure methods for remote access to systems.
IAC-17 — Separation of Duties: Prevent conflicting authorities.

IRO — Incident Response (2 Controls)

IRO-01 — Incident Response Program: Detect, respond to, and recover from incidents.
IRO-02 — Incident Response Plan: Define roles, responsibilities, and procedures.

NET — Network Security (7 Controls)

NET-01 — Network Security Controls: Protect networks from unauthorized access.
NET-02 — Firewall & Router Configuration: Enforce network security policies.
NET-04 — Network Segmentation: Limit lateral movement and contain breaches.
NET-05 — Network Access Control: Control access based on identity and compliance.
NET-06 — Wireless Access: Secure wireless networks.
NET-13 — DNS Security: Protect against DNS-based attacks.
NET-14 — Network Intrusion Detection: Identify suspicious network activity.

PES — Physical & Environmental Security (3 Controls)

PES-01 — Physical Security Program: Protect facilities and assets.
PES-02 — Physical Access Controls: Restrict access to sensitive areas.
PES-04 — Physical Access Monitoring: Detect unauthorized entry attempts.

RSK — Risk Management (4 Controls)

RSK-01 — Risk Management Program: Identify, assess, and treat cybersecurity risks.
RSK-02 — Risk-Based Security Categorization: Categorize systems and data based on risk.
RSK-03 — Risk Assessments: Conduct periodic risk assessments.
RSK-07 — Risk Register: Track identified risks, owners, treatments, and status.

SAT — Security Awareness & Training (1 Control)

SAT-01 — Security Awareness Program: Educate personnel on cybersecurity risks and responsibilities.

TPM — Third-Party Management (5 Controls)

TPM-01 — Third-Party Management Program: Govern vendor and supplier relationships.
TPM-02 — Third-Party Criticality Assessments: Assess criticality of third-party relationships.
TPM-05 — Supply Chain Risk Management: Address risks from hardware and software suppliers.
TPM-06 — Third-Party Contracts: Include cybersecurity requirements in contracts.
TPM-09 — Third-Party Monitoring: Monitor third-party compliance on an ongoing basis.

VPM — Vulnerability & Patch Management (3 Controls)

VPM-01 — Vulnerability Management Program: Identify, prioritize, and remediate vulnerabilities.
VPM-02 — Vulnerability Scanning: Conduct regular vulnerability scans.
VPM-04 — Patch Management: Apply security patches in a timely and controlled manner.

Use Case

Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM)

SCF CORE Fundamentals serves as an effective TPRM baseline — organizations can use it to assess vendors, suppliers, and service providers against a standardized control set calibrated to SMB realities.

When used for TPRM, CORE Fundamentals provides a structured questionnaire framework across all 20 domains, with built-in weighting based on control criticality. The SCF’s External Reference Library (ERL) links each control to authoritative sources for evidence verification.

TPRM Assessment Components in SCF CORE:

• Control questionnaire — 68 questions mapped to control objectives
• Control weighting — based on MCR vs DSR classification
• External Reference Library (ERL) — evidence source links
• Assessment Observations (AOs) — examiner guidance
• Risk and threat catalog crosswalk
• Scoring methodology for aggregate risk rating

Assessment & Certification

Third-Party Assessable

SCF CORE Fundamentals is designed to be independently assessed through the SCF Conformity Assessment Program (SCF-CAP). Organizations seeking documented, third-party validated conformity — including for Texas SB 2610 purposes — can engage an SCF-authorized assessor.

✓ SCF-CAP Assessment Guides — structured evaluation methodology
✓ Third-party validated conformity statements
✓ Defensible audit evidence portfolio
✓ Texas SB 2610 affirmative defense documentation
✓ Assessment conducted by SCF Authorized 3PAOs

Implementation Cycle

Plan-Do-Check-Act (PDCA)

SCF CORE Fundamentals is designed to operate within a continuous PDCA improvement cycle — not as a one-time compliance exercise.

Phase 1

PLAN

Identify applicable controls. Assess current state vs CORE Fundamentals baseline. Define remediation priorities and resource requirements.

Phase 2

DO

Implement controls across all 20 domains. Document policies, standards, and procedures. Deploy technical controls. Train personnel.

Phase 3

CHECK

Monitor control effectiveness. Conduct internal assessments. Review ERL satisfaction. Validate against MCR obligations.

Phase 4

ACT

Remediate gaps. Update policies and standards. Elevate from CORE Fundamentals toward higher-maturity control sets as capacity grows.

Get Started

Download The SCF Today

All tailored control sets, assessment guides, MCR/DSR classifications, ERL references, and TPRM questionnaire templates.

Go To The SCF Download PageExplore Additional SCF Content

Licensed under Creative Commons. Volunteer-driven by the SCF Council. No registration required.