Time and again the administration has called cybersecurity a team sport: something every employee, every agency, every sector must work together to achieve. Now, one of the primary spokes connecting the work being done in government and industry has a place to call its own.
Last week, public and private stakeholders gathered in Rockville, Maryland, for the opening of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence (NCCoE).
Prior to the new space opening, NCCoE staff worked in “cramped temporary quarters,” NIST Director Willie May said after the ribbon-cutting ceremony. May also noted the new building features five times more laboratory space for NIST scientists to collaborate with industry partners.
“NIST has been in the cybersecurity business in a big way for decades. But the NCCoE now adds a key missing element,” May said. “It’s a single collaborative space where government and industry can brainstorm and assemble off-the-shelf commercial products into practical solutions for today’s toughest cybersecurity issues.”
NIST researchers at the NCCoE have been working on several cybersecurity programs over the last two years, most notably in the areas of access control, data integrity, smart card credentials, secured email, mobile device security, privacy-enhanced identity brokers, software management and trusted geolocation.
With the new center now open for business, the NCCoE will continue that work and expand to new areas.
“What we need urgently now are fresh examples, many more collaborators and use cases in key industry sectors,” May said, pointing to areas like “retail, automotive, health care, energy, financial services [and] transportation.”
The director urged people in the private sector — from citizens to companies — to reach out to NIST and the NCCoE with fresh ideas and perspectives.
“As [Commerce Department] Secretary [Penny] Pritzker noted at our dedication, we’re standing in front of two clear paths,” he said. “We can stay in our silos and watch the hackers continue to threaten our national and economic security or we can band together with transparent, well-coordinated and energetic public-private cooperation.”
May also said collaboration shouldn’t stop at the juncture of government and industry. Working together within an organization is just as important.
“CEOs, company presidents, chancellors, business owners and other leaders: You play a central role in moving your organizations to the strongest possible cybersecurity,” he said. “The NCCoE can help you get there.”
