As part of its efforts to develop a voluntary framework to improve cybersecurity in the nation's critical infrastructure, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) posted a draft outline of the document to invite public review and gather comments. The executive order calling for NIST to develop the framework directs the agency to collaborate with the public and private sectors. Reflecting received comments that emphasized the importance of executive involvement in managing cyber risks, the framework is designed to help business leaders evaluate how prepared their organizations are to deal with cyber threats and their impacts. NIST also released a draft compendium of informative references composed of existing standards, practices and guidelines to reduce cyber risks to critical infrastructure industries. This material was released to foster discussion at upcoming workshops and to further encourage private-sector input before NIST publishes the official draft Cybersecurity Framework for public comment in October 2013.
