In this message I want to collect and share a number of recent developments in research security and science nationalism. I'll break this into three sections: US National Science Foundation (NSF) developments; NIST developments; and developments in international access to information resources. I hope these are helpful.

NSF

NSF now has a substantial page that collects many resources and pointers dealing with research security. This is at

Research Security | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation

Of particular note here, I want to note that the NSF Director has issued a recent Dear Colleague letter calling for input on a Research Security and Integrity Information Sharing Analysis Organization (RSI-ISAO). See

A Request for Input on the Development of the U.S. Research Security and Integrity Information Sharing Analysis Organization | NSF - U.S. National Science Foundation

and there will be webinars on May 18 and May 24 following up on this. To register and for further information, see

https://nsf.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_vkOR6TrlRR6sb-03wmMYXA

(note that it's one webinar, repeated). There's also more information on this initiative on the research security page mentioned above.

Also, there's a report from JASON titled "Research Program on Research Security" at

https://nsf-gov-resources.nsf.gov/2023-03/JSR-22-08%20NSF%20Research%20Program%20on%20Research%20Security_03152023_FINAL_1.pdf

which is interesting reading; my understanding is that NSF will use this as a starting point for developing program of research on research security in the coming fiscal year.

NIST

(with thanks to Gary Price for some of these pointers)

The National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) has issued revisions to Standard SP 800-171 for protecting sensitive unclassified information (including research data, in some cases). The announcement is here

NIST Revises SP 800-171 Guidelines for Protecting Sensitive Information | NIST

Draft Revision 3 aligns the publication’s language with NIST’s 800-53 catalog of cybersecurity safeguards.

and will host a webinar on June 6 discussing the details of the updates. For more information and registration see

Webinar on Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information: What’s New in Draft SP 800-171, Revision 3 | CSRC

On June 6, 2023, NIST will host a webinar to provide an overview of the significant changes in NIST Special Publication (SP) 800-171, Revision 3, Protecting Controlled Unclassified Information in Nonfederal Systems and Organizations.  This revision to NIST SP 800-171 represents over one year of data collection, technical analyses, customer interaction, redesign, and development of the security requirements and supporting information for the protection of Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI...

The webinar will be recorded and NIST will likely make the recording available.

International Access to Information Resources

A few weeks ago, a list posting from Jim O'Donnell of ASU called attention to the following curious news article

A portal to China is closing, at least temporarily, and researchers are nervous | South China Morning Post

CNKI, a portal for Chinese academic papers, will restrict foreign access to some databases starting April 1, for security concerns.

and there were some subsequent institutional announcements, such as

Select CNKI resources undergo temporary suspension – California Digital Library

Beginning April 1, 2023, access to several CNKI databases at https://oversea.cnki.net will experience temporary suspension of full text download access or suspension of database-wide access as a result of an audit to ensure compliance with Chinese laws regarding cross-border data. The audit focuses

Recently, there was an interesting Wall Street Journal (sorry, paywall) article that provides some important background on this

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-think-tank-reports-prompted-beijing-to-put-a-lid-on-chinese-data-5f249d5e

Further developments on this are worth tracking, I think.

Clifford Lynch Director, CNI