The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) this Wednesday will host its first workshop with stakeholders to discuss the development of a framework of standards and best practices that could be used on a voluntary basis by owners and operators of critical infrastructure to mitigate cyber security threats.

The workshop, which will be webcast live, will feature panel presentations by a range of government and industry representatives to help NIST collect information about current risk management practices, use of frameworks, standards, guidelines and best practices, and specific industry practices.

Creation of the Cybersecurity Framework was directed by President Barack Obama in February through an Executive Order (Defense Daily, Feb. 13). NIST recently also issued a Request for Information for input on its Cybersecurity Framework (Defense Daily, March 1).