NIST offers guide to fight state-sponsored cyberattacks

The National Institute of Standards and Technology said Tuesday it has introduced a guide on how companies can be protected from state-sponsored hackers.

Gaithersburg, Maryland-based NIST said the document, Special Publication 800-172, Enhanced Security Requirements for Protecting Unclassified Information: A Supplement to NIST SP 800-171, offers a set of tools that companies can use.

Ron Ross, a computer scientist and NIST fellow, said in a statement that the tools are intended to be implemented selectively.

“Most likely an organization implementing this guidance will not want to use all of the enhanced security requirements we offer here,” he said. “The decision to select a particular set of enhanced security requirements will be based on your mission and business needs — and then guided and informed by ongoing risk assessments.”