[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 98 (Monday, May 22, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 32781-32782]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-10825]


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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY


2023 CISA SBOM-a-Rama

AGENCY: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, DHS.

ACTION: Announcement of public event.

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SUMMARY: The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency will 
facilitate a public event to build on existing community-led work 
around Software Bill of Materials (``SBOM'') on specific SBOM topics.

DATES: Wednesday June 14, 2023, from 12:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Eastern 
Standard Time, or 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m., Pacific Standard Time.

ADDRESSES: The event will be a hybrid event held at the USC Hotel, 3540 
S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA 90007, as well as virtually, with 
connection information and dial-in information available at https://www.cisa.gov/SBOM. A form to allow individuals to register their 
interest in either in-person or virtual participation will be available 
at https://cisa.gov/SBOM. See the ``Participation in the SBOM-a-Rama'' 
section in the SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION caption for more information 
on how to participate.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Justin Murphy, (202) 961-4350, Email: 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: A Software Bill of Materials (``SBOM'') has 
been identified by the cybersecurity community as a key aspect of 
modern cybersecurity, including software security and supply chain 
security. Executive Order 14028 declares that ``the trust we place in 
our digital infrastructure should be proportional to how trustworthy 
and transparent that infrastructure is, and to the consequences we will 
incur if that trust is misplaced.'' \1\ SBOMs play a key role in 
providing this transparency.
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    \1\ E.O. 14028, Improving the Nation's Cybersecurity, 1, 86 FR 
26633 (May 17, 2021).
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    E.O. 14028 defines SBOM as ``a formal record containing the details 
and supply chain relationships of various components used in building 
software.'' \2\ The E.O. further notes that ``[s]oftware developers and 
vendors often create products by assembling existing open source and 
commercial software components. The SBOM enumerates these components in 
a product.'' \3\ Transparency from SBOMs aids multiple parties across 
the software lifecycle, including software developers, purchasers, and 
operators.\4\ Recognizing the importance of SBOMs in transparency and 
security, and that SBOM evolution and refinement would be most 
effective coming from the community, the Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is facilitating a public event 
around SBOM, which is intended to advance the software and security 
communities' understanding of SBOM creation, use, and implementation 
across the broader technology ecosystem.
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    \2\ Id. at 10(j), 86 FR 26633 at 26646 (May 17, 2021).
    \3\ Ibid.
    \4\ Ibid.
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I. SBOM Background

    The idea of a software bill of materials is not novel.\5\ It has 
been discussed and explored in the software industry for many years, 
building on industrial and supply chain innovations.\6\ Academics 
identified the potential value of a ``software bill of materials'' as 
far back as 1995,\7\ and tracking use of third-party code is a 
longstanding software best practice.\8\
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    \5\ A brief summary of the history of a software bill of 
materials can be found in Carmody, S., Coravos, A., Fahs, G. et al. 
Building resilient medical technology supply chains with a software 
bill of materials. npj Digit. Med. 4, 34 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-021-00403-w.
    \6\ See ``Toyota Supply Chain Management: A Strategic Approach 
to Toyota's Renowned System'' by Ananth V. Iyer, Sridhar Seshadri, 
and Roy Vasher--a work about Edwards Deming's Supply Chain 
Management https://books.google.com/books/about/Toyota_Supply_Chain_Management_A_Strateg.html?id=JY5wqdelrg8C.
    \7\ Leblang D.B., Levine P.H., Software configuration 
management: Why is it needed and what should it do? In: Estublier J. 
(eds) Software Configuration Management Lecture Notes in Computer 
Science, vol. 1005, Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg (1995).
    \8\ The Software Assurance Forum for Excellence in Code 
(SAFECode), an industry consortium, has released a report on third 
party components that cites a range of standards. Managing Security 
Risks Inherent in the Use of Third-party Components, SAFECode (May 
2017), available at https://www.safecode.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SAFECode_TPC_Whitepaper.pdf.
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    Still, SBOM generation and sharing across the software supply chain 
was not seen as a commonly accepted practice in modern software. In 
2018, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA) convened the first ``multistakeholder process'' to ``promot[e] 
software component transparency.'' \9\ Over the subsequent three years, 
this stakeholder community developed guidance to help foster the idea 
of SBOM, including high-level overviews, initial advice on 
implementation, and technical resources.\10\ When the NTIA-initiated 
multistakeholder process concluded, NTIA noted that ``what was an 
obscure idea became a key part of the global agenda around securing 
software supply chains.'' \11\ In July 2022, CISA facilitated eight 
public listening sessions \12\ around four open topics (two for each 
topic): Cloud & Online Applications, Sharing & Exchanging SBOMs, 
Tooling & Implementation, and On-ramps & Adoption. These public 
listening sessions resulted in the formation of four public, community-
led workstreams around each of the four topics. The groups have been 
convening on a weekly basis since August 2022. More information can be 
found at https://cisa.gov/SBOM.
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    \9\ National Telecommunications and Information Administration 
(NTIA), Notice of Open Meeting, 83 FR 26434 (June 7, 2018).
    \10\ Ntia.gov/SBOM.
    \11\ NTIA, Marking the Conclusion of NTIA's SBOM Process (Feb. 
9, 2022), https://www.ntia.doc.gov/blog/2022/marking-conclusion-ntia-s-sbom-process.
    \12\ Public Listening Sessions on Advancing SBOM Technology, 
Processes, and Practices, https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/06/01/2022-11733/public-listening-sessions-on-advancing-sbom-technology-processes-and-practices.
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    CISA believes that the concept of SBOM and its implementation need 
further refinement. Work to help scale and operationalize SBOM 
implementation should continue to come from a broad-based community 
effort, rather than be dictated by any specific entity. To support such 
a community effort to advance SBOM technologies, processes, and 
practices, CISA will facilitate the 2023 CISA SBOM-a-Rama.

II. Topics for CISA SBOM-a-Rama

    The goal of this meeting is to help the broader software and 
security community understand the current state of SBOM and what 
efforts have been made by different parts of the SBOM community, 
including CISA-facilitated community-led work and other activity from 
sectors and governments. Attendees are invited to ask questions, share 
comments, and raise further issues that need attention. Specific 
presentations will be made on the community-led efforts around sharing 
SBOMs, cloud and online applications, tools and implementation, the 
Vulnerability Exploitability eXchange (VEX) model, and SBOM on-ramps 
and adoption. The event will also feature presentations and discussion 
on sectors' and governments' efforts around the world.

[[Page 32782]]

    A full agenda will be posted in advance of the meeting at https://cisa.gov/SBOM.

III. Participation in the SBOM-a-Rama

    This event is open to anyone. CISA welcomes participation from 
anyone interested in learning about the current state of SBOM practice 
and implementation, including private sector practitioners, policy 
experts, academics, and representatives from non-U.S. organizations. A 
form to allow individuals to register their interest in either in-
person or virtual participation will be available at https://cisa.gov/SBOM.
    Additional information regarding the 2023 CISA SBOM-a-Rama will be 
posted at https://cisa.gov/SBOM.
    This notice is issued under the authority of 6 U.S.C. 652(c)(10)-
(11), 659(c)(4), (9), (12).

Eric Goldstein,
Executive Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security.
[FR Doc. 2023-10825 Filed 5-19-23; 8:45 am]
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