[Federal Register Volume 82, Number 15 (Wednesday, January 25, 2017)]
[Notices]
[Pages 8408-8409]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2017-01599]


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DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

National Institute of Standards and Technology


Proposed Update to the Framework for Improving Critical 
Infrastructure Cybersecurity

AGENCY: National Institute of Standards and Technology, Commerce.

ACTION: Notice, request for comments.

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SUMMARY: The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) 
requests comments on a proposed update to the Framework for Improving 
Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity (the ``Framework''). The 
voluntary Framework consists of standards, methodologies, procedures, 
and processes that align policy, business, and technological approaches 
to address cyber risks. The Framework was published on February 12, 
2014, after a year-long, open process involving private and public 
sector organizations, including extensive input and public comments. It 
has been used with increasing frequency and in a variety of ways by 
organizations of all sizes, areas of interest, and based inside and 
outside the United States.
    This Request for Comments (RFC) is meant to facilitate coordination 
with, ``private sector personnel and entities, critical infrastructure 
owners and operators, and other relevant industry organizations'' as 
directed by the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014.\1\ The proposed 
update to the Framework is available for review at http://www.nist.gov/cyberframework. Responses to this RFC will be posted at http://www.nist.gov/cyberframework and will inform NIST's planned update to 
the Framework.
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    \1\ See 15 U.S.C. 272(e)(1)(A)(i). The Cybersecurity Enhancement 
Act of 2014 (S.1353) became public law 113-274 on December 18, 2014 
and may be found at: https://www.congress.gov/bill/113th-congress/senate-bill/1353/text.

DATES: Comments must be received by 5:00 p.m. Eastern time on April 10, 
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2017.

ADDRESSES: Written comments may be submitted by mail to Edwin Games, 
National Institute of Standards and Technology, 100 Bureau Drive, Stop 
8930, Gaithersburg, MD 20899. Online submissions in electronic form may 
be sent to [email protected] in any of the following formats: 
HTML; ASCII; Word; RTF; or PDF. Please submit comments only and include 
your name, organization's name (if any), and cite ``Comments on Draft 
Update of the Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure 
Cybersecurity'' in all correspondence. Comments containing references, 
studies, research, and other empirical data that are not widely 
published should include copies of the referenced materials. The 
proposed update to the Framework is available for review at http://www.nist.gov/cyberframework.
    All comments received in response to this RFC will be posted at 
http://www.nist.gov/cyberframework without change or redaction, so 
commenters should not include information they do not wish to be posted 
(e.g., personal or confidential business information). Comments that 
contain profanity, vulgarity, threats, or other inappropriate language 
will not be posted or considered.

[[Page 8409]]


FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: For questions about this RFC contact: 
Adam Sedgewick, U.S. Department of Commerce, 1401 Constitution Avenue 
NW., Washington, DC 20230, telephone (202) 482-0788, email 
[email protected]. Please direct media inquiries to NIST's Office 
of Public Affairs at (301) 975-2762.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The national and economic security of the 
United States depends on the reliable functioning of critical 
infrastructure,\2\ which has become increasingly dependent on 
information technology. Cyber attacks and publicized weaknesses 
reinforce the need for improved capabilities for defending against 
malicious cyber activity. This is a long-term challenge.
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    \2\ For the purposes of this RFC the term ``critical 
infrastructure'' has the meaning given the term in 42 U.S.C. 
5195c(e): ``systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so 
vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of 
such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on 
security, national economic security, national public health or 
safety, or any combination of those matters.''
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    The Secretary of Commerce was tasked to direct the Director of NIST 
to lead the development of a voluntary framework to reduce cyber risks 
to critical infrastructure (the ``Framework'').\3\ The Framework 
consists of standards, methodologies, procedures and processes that 
align policy, business, and technological approaches to address cyber 
risks. The Framework was developed by NIST using information collected 
through the Request for Information (RFI) that was published in the 
Federal Register on February 25, 2013 (78 FR 13024), a series of open 
public workshops, and a 45-day public comment period announced in the 
Federal Register on October 29, 2013 (78 FR 64478). It was published on 
February 12, 2014, after a year-long, open process involving private 
and public sector organizations, including extensive input and public 
comments, and announced in the Federal Register on February 18, 2014 
(79 FR 9167). Responses to subsequent RFIs, as announced through the 
Federal Register (79 FR 50891 and 80 FR 76934), and workshops 
encouraged NIST to update the Framework.
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    \3\ See Executive Order 13636, Improving Critical Infrastructure 
Cybersecurity (Feb. 12, 2013), https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-02-19/pdf/2013-03915.pdf. The Cybersecurity Framework may be 
found at: https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cyberframework/cybersecurity-framework-021214.pdf.
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    The Cybersecurity Framework incorporates voluntary consensus 
standards and industry best practices to the fullest extent possible 
and is consistent with voluntary international consensus-based 
standards when such international standards advance the objectives of 
the Cybersecurity Enhancement Act of 2014. The Framework is designed 
for compatibility with existing regulatory authorities and regulations, 
although it is intended for voluntary adoption.
    Given the diversity of sectors in the Nation's critical 
infrastructure, the Framework development process was designed to build 
on cross-sector security standards and guidelines that are immediately 
applicable or likely to be applicable to critical infrastructure. The 
process also was intended to increase visibility and use of those 
standards and guidelines, and to find potential areas for improvement 
(e.g., where standards/guidelines are nonexistent) that need to be 
addressed through future collaboration with industry and industry-led 
standards bodies.
    While the focus of the Framework is on the Nation's critical 
infrastructure, it was developed in a manner to promote wide adoption 
of practices to increase risk management-based cybersecurity across all 
industry sectors and by all types of organizations.
    NIST has worked closely with industry groups, associations, non-
profits, government agencies, and international standards bodies to 
increase awareness of the Framework. NIST has promoted the use of the 
Framework as a basic, flexible, and adaptable tool for managing and 
reducing cybersecurity risks. The Framework was designed as a 
communication tool. It is applicable for leaders at all levels of an 
organization. For these reasons, NIST has engaged a wide diversity of 
stakeholders in Framework education. NIST has also issued several RFIs, 
held workshops, and encouraged direct communication with potential and 
current users of the Framework.
    Based on the information received from the public via these 
channels and the work that it has carried out on cybersecurity--
including its collaborative efforts with the private sector--NIST has 
developed a draft update of the Framework (termed ``Version 1.1'' or 
``V1.1''), available at http://www.nist.gov/cyberframework. This draft 
update seeks to clarify, refine, and enhance the Framework, and make it 
easier to use, while retaining its flexible, voluntary, and cost-
effective nature. The update also will be fully compatible with the 
February 2014 version of the Framework in that either version may be 
used by organizations without degrading communication or functionality.

Request for Comments

    NIST is soliciting public comments on this proposed update. 
Specifically, NIST is interested in comments that address updated 
features of the Framework. These features seek to:
     Clarify Implementation Tier use and relationship to 
Profiles,
     Enhance guidance for applying the Framework for supply 
chain risk management,
     Provide guidance on metrics and measurements using the 
Framework,
     Update the FAQs to support understanding and use of 
Framework, and
     Update the Informative References.
    NIST also will consider comments on other aspects of the Framework 
update. All comments will be made available to the public. These 
comments will be analyzed and will be one focus of a public workshop to 
be held in May 2017. Details about that workshop, which also will 
feature user experiences with the Framework, will be announced on the 
NIST Cybersecurity Framework Web site at: https://www.nist.gov/cyberframework. To receive notice about the workshop, please contact: 
[email protected].
    After the May 2017 workshop and considering the comments received 
on this draft update, NIST intends to issue a final version of 
Framework V1.1 along with an updated Roadmap \4\ document that 
describes recommended activities in work areas that are related and 
complimentary to the Framework.
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    \4\ The Cybersecurity Framework Roadmap may be found at: https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/cyberframework/roadmap-021214.pdf.

Kevin Kimball,
NIST Chief of Staff.
[FR Doc. 2017-01599 Filed 1-24-17; 8:45 am]
 BILLING CODE 3510-13-P