Trusted CI, the NSF Cybersecurity Center of Excellence, is pleased to announce that it has completed its adoption of the Trusted CI Framework for its own security program. The previous security program, based off of Trusted CI’s Guide for Cybersecurity Programs for NSF Science and Engineering Projects, provided Trusted CI with a usable but basic security program. As Trusted CI has matured and its impact on the community expanded, we found our program was no longer adequate for our growing cybersecurity needs. Thus, we began the process of rebuilding our program in order to strengthen our security posture.
The release of Trusted CI’s Framework was independent of our effort to redress our security program, but serendipitously timed nonetheless. We leveraged the Framework Implementation Guide (or FIG) -- instructions for cyberinfrastructure research operators -- to rebuild our security program based on the 4 Pillars and 16 Musts constituting the Trusted CI Framework.
The documents that form Trusted CI’s updated security program include the top-level Master Information Security Policies and Procedures (or MISPP), along with the support policies: Access Control Policy, Collaborator Information Policy, Document Labeling Policy, Incident Response Policy & Procedures, Information Classification Policy, Infrastructure Change Policy, and Onboarding / Offboarding Policy & Procedures. Moreover, to track critical assets, asset owners for incident response, associated controls, and granted privilege escalations, the following “Asset Specific Access and Privilege Specifications”, or ASAPS were included: Apple (Podcasts), Badgr, Backup System (for G-Drive), Blogger, CloudPerm (G-Drive tool), DNS Registrar, GitHub, Group Service Account, IDEALS (@Illinois), Mailing Lists @Indiana), Slack, Twitter, YouTube, Website (SquareSpace), Zenodo, and Zoom.
The effort to adopt the Trusted CI Framework took ½ FTE over four months.
