Across Europe, organizations are preparing to comply with the NIS 2 Directive – the European Union’s strengthened framework for cybersecurity and operational resilience. Unlike previous regulations, NIS 2 places responsibility not only on IT teams, but squarely on executive leadership. It introduces stricter controls, broader scope, and for the first time, the potential for personal liability of management in case of failure.
Despite growing awareness, many companies still approach NIS 2 as a checklist exercise – a set of technical controls or documentation updates. In practice, however, compliance requires a fundamental shift in how organizations govern, assess, and manage risk.
From our work with clients across industries, we have identified three critical steps that most companies overlook – and which often become the reason for delays, audit findings, or non-compliance.
Making Cybersecurity a Board-Level Responsibility
One of the biggest misconceptions around NIS 2 is that it is primarily an IT directive. In reality, it is a governance and accountability directive. It demands that senior management, including board members and directors, understand and oversee cybersecurity risk in the same way they do financial or operational risk.
In many organizations, cybersecurity still sits several layers below the board. Reports are infrequent, risk language is highly technical, and decision-making on cyber investments remains disconnected from business strategy. NIS 2 changes this dynamic by introducing direct accountability for leadership. To comply – and more importantly, to build true resilience – executives must integrate cybersecurity into strategic planning and corporate oversight.
That means having regular board-level discussions on threat exposure, defining measurable risk tolerance, and ensuring the organization can demonstrate proactive governance. When cybersecurity is treated as a leadership responsibility, not a technical topic, compliance follows naturally.
Understanding the Full Scope of Third-Party Risk
Modern organizations are deeply interconnected, relying on dozens or even hundreds of third parties – from cloud providers and software vendors to logistics partners and subcontractors.
Under NIS 2, this interconnectedness becomes part of your security responsibility.
The directive explicitly requires organizations to assess and manage the risks introduced by suppliers and service providers. This means compliance extends far beyond your own network and systems – it reaches into your entire supply chain.
Many companies underestimate this aspect. They perform limited due diligence during procurement, but they lack a structured process for ongoing monitoring.
To meet NIS 2 expectations, organizations need a clear understanding of which partners handle critical data or provide essential services, what controls they have in place, and how quickly they can respond if something goes wrong.
This doesn’t have to become an administrative burden. The key is to establish a consistent risk management approach: classify suppliers, define minimum security expectations, and integrate third-party oversight into your broader compliance framework. By doing so, organizations strengthen not only their compliance posture but also their operational resilience and reputation.
Turning Incident Response from a Policy into a Practice
Every organization has policies and procedures, but far fewer have tested whether those procedures actually work under pressure. NIS 2 requires entities to detect, handle, and report significant incidents within strict timeframes. In practice, that means organizations must be able to react quickly, communicate effectively, and coordinate between technical, legal, and executive teams.
Too often, incident response remains a document on paper — detailed, approved, and stored neatly on a server, but never exercised. When a real incident happens, confusion over roles, missing contact points, or delayed decision-making often reveal that the plan has never been rehearsed.
The difference between formal compliance and real readiness lies in practice. Regular simulation exercises, or so-called “tabletop tests,” bring together all key stakeholders to test both the plan and the people.
They help identify weaknesses, improve response speed, and ensure everyone, from IT to management, knows their role when it matters most.
NIS 2 doesn’t just ask you to have a plan. It expects you to prove that your organization can execute it.
Compliance Is Not the Finish Line
Achieving compliance with NIS 2 is not the end of the journey – it’s a milestone. Organizations that treat it as a strategic opportunity rather than a regulatory burden will find that the benefits extend well beyond compliance.
Stronger governance builds trust with customers, partners, and regulators. A better understanding of risk improves decision-making and investment efficiency.
And well-practiced response processes reduce downtime and reputational damage when incidents inevitably occur.
Ultimately, NIS 2 is not just about avoiding penalties — it’s about building confidence: confidence that your business can withstand disruption, protect its reputation, and adapt to new challenges in the digital economy.
Are You Ready for NIS 2?
Every organization is different — but most share similar blind spots when it comes to compliance.
Find out how ready your business really is by taking our NIS 2 Readiness Test. In just a few minutes, you’ll get a clear view of where your organization stands and which areas need the most attention.
