NIST aims for summer release of AI cyber guidelines

"NIST is slated to debut new guidance on artificial intelligence-specific cybersecurity to help mitigate AI-enabled digital threats while maximizing the benefits of safe AI adoption. Speaking at a Qualys conference on Thursday, Victoria Pillitteri, the manager of the Security Engineering and Risk Management Group at NIST, said she expects a cybersecurity framework profile for AI to debut "sometime this summer" pending agency approval."

"The forthcoming draft AI cybersecurity framework is slated to be accompanied by guidance on control overlays - or sets of tailored cybersecurity baselines to manage risks unique to different AI systems - with the help of NIST's Center for AI Standards and Innovation. Pillitteri told Nextgov/FCW that her team and CAISI have started to develop a series of overlay guidance focused on cyber threats targeting agentic, predictive and generative AI systems."

""This [administration's] priority is speed; being innovative and scaling at speed," Pillitteri said. "So that means everything does have to move faster. We're trying to evolve the way that we develop, maintain and engage with our stakeholders. For our standards and guidelines, we're trying to ensure that we are addressing these critical areas where cybersecurity intersects AI on multiple fronts.""

"She said the draft of overlay guidance for predictive AI is expected to arrive this summer, while the overlay guidance on agentic systems is due in late summer to early fall. NIST plans to finalize the guidance by 2027. "The intention is to issue all of these guidelines sequentially in draft," Pillitteri said. "This way we can take lessons learned, improvements, revise everything, but yet still get something out quickly, because we realize adoption is happening now.""

NIST plans to debut new AI-specific cybersecurity guidance to reduce digital threats enabled by AI while supporting safe adoption. A cybersecurity framework profile for AI is expected to be released sometime this summer, subject to agency approval. The framework will be accompanied by guidance on control overlays, which are tailored cybersecurity baselines for managing risks unique to different AI systems. NIST’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation will help develop overlay guidance focused on agentic, predictive, and generative AI systems. Draft overlay guidance for predictive AI is expected this summer, while agentic system overlay guidance is expected from late summer to early fall. NIST aims to finalize the guidance by 2027, issuing drafts sequentially to incorporate lessons learned quickly.

Read at Nextgov.com