[Federal Register Volume 86, Number 60 (Wednesday, March 31, 2021)]
[Notices]
[Pages 16706-16707]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-06571]


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DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Defense Acquisition Regulations System

[Docket Number DARS-2020-0038; OMB Control Number 0750-0004]


Information Collection Requirement; Defense Federal Acquisition 
Regulation Supplement (DFARS); Assessing Contractor Implementation of 
Cybersecurity Requirements

AGENCY: Defense Acquisition Regulations System, Department of Defense 
(DoD).

ACTION: Notice.

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SUMMARY: The Defense Acquisition Regulations System has submitted to 
OMB for clearance, the following proposal for collection of information 
under the provisions of the Paperwork Reduction Act.

DATES: Consideration will be given to all comments received by April 
30, 2021.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
    Title and OMB Number: Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation 
Supplement (DFARS), Assessing Contractor Implementation of 
Cybersecurity Requirements; OMB Control Number 0750-0004.
    Type of Request: Extension of a currently approved collection.
    Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit and not-for-profit 
institutions.
    Obligation to Respond: Required to obtain or retain benefits.
    DoD estimates the annual public reporting burden for the 
information collection as follows:
    Reporting Frequency: On occasion.

a. Basic Assessment

    Respondents: 13,068.
    Responses per respondent: 1.
    Annual responses: 13,068.
    Hours per Response: 0.75.
    Annual Burden Hours: 9,801.

b. Medium Assessment

    Respondents: 200.
    Responses per respondent: 1.
    Annual responses: 200.
    Hours per Response: 8.
    Annual Burden Hours: 1,600.

c. High Assessment

    Respondents: 110.
    Responses per respondent: 1.
    Annual responses: 110.
    Hours per Response: 420.
    Annual Burden Hours: 46,200.

d. Total Public Burden (All Entities)

    Respondents: 13,068.
    Total annual responses: 13,378.
    Total burden hours: 57,601.

e. Total Public Burden (Small Entities)

    Respondents: 8,823.
    Total annual responses: 9,023.
    Total burden hours: 41,821.
    Needs and Uses: The collection of information is necessary for DoD 
to immediately begin assessing where vulnerabilities in its supply 
chain exist and take steps to correct such deficiencies. In addition, 
the collection of information is necessary to ensure Defense Industrial 
Base (DIB) contractors that have not fully implemented the NIST SP 800-
171 security requirements pursuant to DFARS clause 252.204-7012, 
Safeguarding Covered Defense

[[Page 16707]]

Information and Cyber Incident Reporting, begin correcting these 
deficiencies immediately.
    This collection of information is implemented in the DFARS through 
the provision at 252.204-7019, Notice of NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment 
Requirement, and the clause at 252.204-7020, NIST SP 800-171 DoD 
Assessment Requirements. This information collection covers the 
following requirements:
     DFARS provision 252.204-7019, Notice of NIST SP 800-171 
DoD Assessment Requirement, is prescribed for use in all solicitations, 
including solicitations using FAR part 12 procedures for the 
acquisition of commercial items, except for solicitations solely for 
the acquisition of commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) items. 
Per the provision, if an offeror is required to have implemented NIST 
SP 800-171 per DFARS clause 252.204-7012, then the offeror shall have a 
current assessment posted in the Supplier Performance Risk System 
(SPRS) for each covered contractor information system that is relevant 
to the offer, contract, task order, or delivery order in order to be 
considered for award. If the offeror does not have summary level scores 
of a current NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment (i.e., not more than 3 
years old, unless a lesser time is specified in the solicitation) 
posted in SPRS, the offeror may conduct and submit a Basic Assessment 
for posting in SPRS.
     DFARS clause 252.204-7020, NIST SP 800-171 DoD Assessment 
Requirements, is prescribed for use in in all solicitations and 
contracts, including solicitations and contracts using FAR part 12 
procedures for the acquisition of commercial items, except for 
solicitations and contracts solely for the acquisition of COTS items. 
The clause requires the contractor to provide the Government access to 
its facilities, systems, and personnel in order to conduct a Medium or 
High Assessment, if necessary. For Basic Assessments, the contractor 
may submit summary level scores for posting to SPRS. Medium Assessments 
are assumed to be conducted by DoD Components, primarily by Program 
Management Office cybersecurity personnel, in coordination with the 
Defense Contract Management Agency (DCMA) Defense Industrial Base 
Cybersecurity Assessment Center (DIBCAC), as part of a separately 
scheduled visit (e.g., for a Critical Design Review). High Assessments 
will be conducted by, or in conjunction with, the DCMA DIBCAC. The 
Department may choose to conduct a Medium or High Assessment when 
warranted based on the criticality of the program(s)/technology(ies) 
associated with the contracted effort(s). For example, a Medium 
Assessment may be initiated by a Program Office that has determined 
that the risk associated with their programs warrants going beyond the 
Basic self-assessment. The results of that Medium Assessment may 
satisfy the Program Office, or may indicate the need for a High 
assessment. DoD will provide Medium and High Assessment summary level 
scores to the contractor and offer the opportunity for rebuttal and 
adjudication of assessment summary level scores prior to posting the 
summary level scores to SPRS. The requirements of this clause flow down 
to subcontractors.
    Comments and recommendations on the proposed information collection 
should be sent to Ms. Susan Minson, DoD Desk Officer, at 
[email protected]. Please identify the proposed information 
collection by DoD Desk Officer and the Docket ID number and title of 
the information collection.
    You may also submit comments, identified by docket number and 
title, by the following method: Federal eRulemaking Portal: https://www.regulations.gov. Follow the instructions for submitting comments.
    DoD Clearance Officer: Ms. Angela James. Requests for copies of the 
information collection proposal should be sent to Ms. James at [email protected].

Jennifer D. Johnson,
Regulatory Control Officer, Defense Acquisition Regulations System.
[FR Doc. 2021-06571 Filed 3-30-21; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6820-ep-P