NIST develops draft update to cyber-security framework

The National Institute of Standards and Technology, commonly known as NIST, has issued a draft update to the “Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cyber-Security,” also known as the Cybersecurity Framework.

Providing new details on managing cyber supply chain risks, clarifying key terms, and introducing measurement methods for cyber-security, the updated framework aims to further develop NIST’s voluntary guidance to organizations on reducing cyber-security risks.

The Cyber-security Framework was published in February 2014 following a collaborative process involving industry, academia and government agencies, as directed by a presidential executive order.

The goal was to develop a voluntary framework to help organizations manage cyber-security risk in the nation’s critical infrastructure, such as bridges and the electric power grid, but the framework has been widely adopted by many types of organizations across the country and around the world.

The 2017 draft Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Version 1.1 incorporates feedback since the release of framework version 1.0, and integrates comments from a December 2015 Request for Information.

“We wrote this update to refine and enhance the original document and to make it easier to use,” says Matt Barrett, NIST’s program manager for the Cyber-security Framework. “This update is fully compatible with the original framework, and the framework remains voluntary and flexible to adaptation.”

Examples of cyber supply chain risk management include a small business selecting a cloud service provider or a federal agency contracting with a system integrator to build an IT system.

In the renamed and revised “Identity Management and Access Control” category, the draft clarifies and expands the definitions of the terms “authentication” and “authorization.” Authors also added and defined the related concept of “identity proofing.”

“In the update we introduce the notion of cyber-security measurement to get the conversation started,” Barrett says. “Measurements will be critical to ensure that cyber-security receives proper consideration in a larger enterprise risk management discussion.”

The deadline to send comments on the draft Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Version 1.1 is April 10, 2017. Comments can be e-mailed to cyberframework@nist.gov.