NIST

The Internet Security Alliance, a multi-sector trade association, wants to know what adoption of a new cybersecurity framework will entail for companies in critical infrastructure industries.

In a proposal pitched to the Department of Homeland Security and sector specific agencies, the ISA this week called for beta tests on the National Institute of Standards and Technology's framework to identify the cost-effectiveness of adopting the controls it recommends.

The federal institute that sets national standards for how government, private citizens and business guard the privacy of their files and communications is reviewing all of its previous recommendations.

The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has vigorously denied that the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) tampered with NIST's process of vetting and choosing encryption algorithms.

"NIST would not deliberately weaken a cryptographic standard," NIST said in a statement Tuesday. "We will continue in our mission to work with the cryptographic community to create the strongest possible encryption standards for the U.S. government and industry at large."