Remarks by Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence

Remarks by Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves at the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence
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Tue, 03/07/2023 – 17:30

Cybersecurity
Infrastructure

AS PREPARED FOR DELIVERY

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Office of Public Affairs

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Don Graves

Thank you, Dr. Locascio, and welcome, everyone. Thank you to Secretary Anderson and County Executive Elrich for being here.

At the Commerce Department, we’re focused on supporting economic growth, opportunity, and innovation here in America.

America is the world leader in technological innovation yet cyberattacks increasingly threaten our economic and national security.

These attacks can endanger critical infrastructure and access to essential services, harm the productivity and reputations of American businesses, and put the privacy of the American people at risk.

We at the Commerce Department recognize that these growing and evolving threats demand action.

We need to keep spreading the word and raising awareness about the cyber risks we face. And we need to identify, create, improve – and use – the resources available to help manage and reduce these risks.

To succeed in meeting our nation’s cybersecurity challenges, our companies, our educational institutions, and our government agencies simply cannot go it alone. Being cyber-secure is a team sport.

That’s why I am so pleased that the founding partners of the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence – NIST, the state of Maryland, and Montgomery County, Maryland – have decided to renew this arrangement, which has already been yielding dividends.

The NCCoE is an ideal place and way for federal, state, and local governments to join forces and tackle tough cybersecurity issues.

Beyond the strong inter-governmental cooperation represented here today, this center depends on active industry involvement to develop solutions to thorny cybersecurity problems.

The NCCoE is a model of the strong partnership and collaboration that we need to address these challenges.

Throughout my career and in my current role as Deputy Secretary of Commerce, I’ve heard from leaders of companies both large and small about the urgent need for practical approaches. That’s what the NCCoE is all about.

One of the reasons I’m excited to be here today is that NIST and its NCCoE partners today are launching a new “Cybersecurity Connections” initiative which will team cybersecurity providers and consumers to deliver cybersecurity goods and services to smaller businesses and organizations.

The companies in Montgomery County and across Maryland who join and take advantage of this effort will be at the vanguard, developing and using new guidance to address cybersecurity needs – and their experience will help other businesses around the country.

As a bonus, today NIST also is launching a related, broader initiative to improve the capabilities of small businesses which are either cybersecurity consumers or providers.

The NIST “Small Business Community of Interest” – which will not just include but also go beyond activities that fall under NCCoE’s Cybersecurity Connections effort – aims to better reflect smaller companies’ needs, interests, and capabilities in all of NIST’s cybersecurity activities.

Smaller businesses that participate in this endeavor will inform NIST’s decisions about its portfolio of cybersecurity activities to ensure that they are as relevant and effective as possible.

They will help ensure that NIST’s guidance is both meaningful and practical for smaller companies and other organizations to put into use. Beyond benefiting the NCCoE and its participants, this new community of interest promises to improve the return on all of NIST’s investments in cybersecurity research, standards, guidelines, and practices. And it will help further the Commerce Department’s goal supporting economic growth and opportunity.

So today is a day of great promise. Thank you for joining this commemoration. I look forward to hearing about the positive impacts that these efforts will deliver. Thank you.

Bureaus and Offices

National Institute of Standards and Technology

Leadership

Don Graves

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