NIST’s International Cybersecurity and Privacy Engagement Update – Trade Missions, Workshops, and Translations

Our Cybersecurity Awareness Month may have come to a close at the end of October — but the importance of enhancing cybersecurity and engaging with our international partners to enhance cybersecurity is at the forefront of our minds all year long.

Here are some updates on our international work:

• Conversations have continued with our partners throughout the world on the update to the NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0, and NIST hosted its final workshop on September 19 and 20 with in-person and hybrid attendance featuring international participation (via both speakers and panelists). While formal comments on the current Draft CSF 2.0 were due on November 6, please continue to provide us your valuable feedback.

• NIST is also currently working with industry partners to amplify our international outreach — as an example, we recently hosted a webinar along with the Coalition to Reduce Cyber Risk (CR2) on the importance of international engagement for the CSF 2.0 update. We heard from colleagues throughout the world, including Norway and the Czech Republic, on their experience with the CSF (if you missed it, you can catch the recording here).

• NIST international engagement continues through our support to the Department of State and other interagency colleagues during numerous international dialogues, including a recent U.S.-Singapore dialogue in Washington, D.C., and a Western Hemisphere conference hosted at the Organization of American States.
   
• NIST representatives have been traveling the world to share information on a number of key resources.
  • NICE co-facilitated workshops, virtually and in person, with Vietnam and Pacific Cyber Security Operational Network (PaCSON) participants during the month of September and engaged strategies to grow and sustain cybersecurity workforces.  In the same month, NICE participated in the European Cybersecurity Skills Conference and spoke about the NICE Framework.
  • NICE also plans to attend the Global Forum on Cybersecurity Expertise (GFCE) Meeting and the Global Cybersecurity Capacity Building Conference at the end of November in Accra, Ghana, to continue conversations with partners on cybersecurity education and workforce development. 
  • NIST participated in the Latin America (LATAM) Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) Summit in Madrid, Spain, October 2 and 3 and spoke about the CSF 2.0 update and the opportunity to engage on the Spanish and Portuguese translations during a panel session on “Choosing and implementing effective cybersecurity frameworks.” This event was a great opportunity to connect with government and industry from Latin America and Spain to discuss cybersecurity trends and issues (and to continue engagement on NIST resources).

• NIST continues to support colleagues in the International Trade Administration (ITA) in the Department of Commerce on international engagement on cybersecurity.
  • Between September 18-20, 2023, NIST Director Laurie Locascio lead an ITA cybersecurity business development mission to Taiwan. As the mission lead, she served as the chief and senior-most U.S. representative on the delegation throughout the trip. This mission introduced U.S. firms to some of Taiwan’s leading information and communication technology (ICT) security and critical infrastructure protection markets. Additional NIST leadership – including Acting Information Technology Laboratory Director Jim St. Pierre, supported this trip on the remaining stops of the trade mission in South Korea and Japan, led by Commerce Deputy Secretary Don Graves. NIST had the opportunity to share information on the Cybersecurity Framework 2.0 update, ongoing work at the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE) to develop cybersecurity solutions with industry, and many other NIST cybersecurity efforts. We look forward to following up these conversations and have already hosted a delegation from Taiwan since NIST leadership returned to continue this engagement. 

• NIST has hosted several international visitors and guests this fall at the NIST campus and the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence. Recent conversations and visits have taken place with representatives from government and industry from the Czech Republic, Portugal, Switzerland, Vietnam, the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, and more. These conversations always provide a unique opportunity to learn from our partners throughout the world and share the work we are doing with industry across a variety of areas, including cybersecurity, 5G security, post quantum cryptography, digital identity, artificial intelligence (AI), and many other topics.

• NIST also continues to add to the growing list of translations of resources on the International Cybersecurity and Privacy Resources page. Most recently, translations of the Cybersecurity Framework Version 1.1 in Greek, Malay, and Norwegian have been released, along with the French translation of the 2017 NICE Framework (NIST SP-181) and the French translation of the 2020 NICE Framework (NIST SP 800-181r1). We look forward to adding more to our site in the coming weeks, and if you are aware of additional translations and resources to share, please reach out to us!

We are excited to share these updates with you and will continue to keep you informed in the future. For questions — or to discuss opportunities for international engagement, reach out to us at intl-cyber-privacy [at] nist.gov (intl-cyber-privacy[at]nist[dot]gov).