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EL Highlights May 2014

EL Highlights May 2014                                   Return to Highlight page

 

Recognition

EL's Stouffer Recognized with 2013 Gov30 Security Award

TheGov30 Security Award recognizes thirty leaders for their contributions to the government security community. Keith Stouffer from the NIST Engineering Laboratory was recognized for his contributions that have made a significant impact in the way we secure our critical infrastructure, key assets, and the homeland. Award recipients will be recognized in a number of ways: on the Government Security Conference and Expo (GovSec) website at http://govsecinfo.com/events/govsec-2014/information/gov-30.aspx; to all attendees of the 2014 GovSec event;  in a future issue GovSec eNews published by of Security Products; and, on security-today.com. Winners will also be honored on May 13 at the 2014 GovSec at the Washington, DC Convention Center.

Contact: Keith Stouffer, (301) 975-3877

EL's Emmerich elected Fellow of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate

EL's Steven Emmerich was elected to be a Fellow of the International Society of Indoor Air Quality and Climate (ISIAQ). The ISIAQ Academy of Fellows is an international, multidisciplinary, scientific, honorific organization established to promote scholarship for indoor environmental and building sciences. Academy membership is by invitation, following a nomination and election procedure, and in recognition of research, practice, and outstanding service in advancing the indoor air sciences. Mr. Emmerich was nominated for his significant contributions to the indoor air quality field including the development of computer simulation techniques to analyze the energy impacts of envelope air leakage in commercial buildings. In addition, he was recognized for many years of research into the key factors in determining and managing IAQ in residential buildings, including field studies of the performance of particulate filters and the potential for transport of contaminants from attached garages. His more recent work that was cited includes experimental and simulation studies of residential exposures to carbon monoxide from emergency generators, and the development simulation methods to support innovative ventilation and IAQ technologies for netzero energy, high performance green buildings.

Contact: Steven Emmerich (301)975-6459

Impact of NIST Research

EL Effort Leads to New ASTM AGV Performance Standards Committee

The ASTM International Board of Directors unanimously approved the establishment of ASTM Committee F45 on Driverless Automatic Guided Industrial Vehicles on April30. This was the final hurdle for the new standards body that will include five subcommittees on: Environmental Effects, Docking & Navigation, Object Detection & Protection, Communication & Integration, and Terminology. The effort began more than a year ago from a white paper developed by EL researcher Roger Bostelman and presented to the automatic guided vehicle (AGV)industry and ASTM. The paper provided background on mobile robot research, challenges, and progress that would suggest a need for a performance standard of generic test methods to help drive the technology forward for the manufacturing AGV industry. Pat Picariello, the Director of Developmental Operations at ASTM, scheduled a conference call with NIST for May 13 to discuss the next steps, including a press release and recruiting of board members. This new standards committee was highlighted as the cover feature article of the May / June issue of ASTM Standardization News, available online at http://www.astm.org/standardization-news/features/steering-a-new-course-mj14.html.

Contact:Roger Bostelman  (301)975-3426

Programmatic/Technical Accomplishment

NIST Releases Major Revision to Industrial Control System Security Guide

A major revision of the NIST Special Publication 800-82, Guide to Industrial Control Systems (ICS) Security, Revision Two, has been released for public comment. This NIST guide advises industrial plants, public utilities, and other major infrastructure operations on how to reduce the vulnerability of their computer-controlled industrial systems to malicious attacks, equipment failures, errors, inadequate malware protection, and other software-related threats. This influential guide has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times since its initial release in 2006. The latest revision of the NIST guide includes updates to sections on ICS threats and vulnerabilities, risk management, recommended practices, security architectures, and security capabilities and tools for ICS.

Due to the unique performance, reliability, and safety requirements of internet–enabled industrial control systems, adaptations and extensions to security controls and processes commonly used in traditional IT systems are often necessary. The new SP 800-82 revision includes a significant new appendix that offers guidance on how to adapt and apply security controls and control enhancements detailed in the 2013 comprehensive update of Security and Privacy Controls for Federal Information Systems and Organizations (NIST Special Publication 800-53, Revision 4) to meet the needs of ICS. SP 800-53 contains a baseline set of security controls that can be tailored for specific needs according to an organization's mission, operational environment, and the technologies used. The new draft of SP 800-82 includes an ICS overlay that adapts and refines that baseline to address the specialized security needs of utilities, chemical companies, food manufacturers, automakers, and other users of industrial control systems.

The public comment period runs from May 14 through July 18, 2014.

Contact:Keith Stouffer (301)975-3877

Created August 28, 2014, Updated August 25, 2016