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[Federal Register Volume 90, Number 11 (Friday, January 17, 2025)]
[Notices]
[Pages 5933-5936]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2025-01165]

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DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY

Agency Information Collection Activities: Incident Reporting Form

AGENCY: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS).

ACTION: 30-day notice and request for comment; new information 
collection request.

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SUMMARY: The Cybersecurity Division (CSD) within the Cybersecurity and 
Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) will submit the following 
information collection request (ICR) to the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) for review and clearance. CISA previously published this 
information collection request (ICR) in the Federal Register on October 
7, 2024, for a 60-day public comment period. Three (3) comments were 
received by CISA. One unrelated public comment was submitted. The 
purpose of this notice is to allow additional 30-days for public 
comments.

DATES: Comments will be accepted until February 18, 2025.

ADDRESSES: Written comments and recommendations for the proposed 
information collection should be sent within 30 days of publication of 
this notice to www.reginfo.gov/public/do/PRAMain. Find this particular 
information collection by selecting ``Currently under 30-day Review--
Open for Public Comments'' or by using the search function. All 
submissions received must include the agency name ``CISA'' and docket 
number CISA-2024-0025.
    The Office of Management and Budget is particularly interested in 
comments which:
    1. Evaluate whether the proposed collection of information is 
necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the agency, 
including whether the information will have practical utility;

[[Page 5934]]

    2. Evaluate the accuracy of the agency's estimate of the burden of 
the proposed collection of information, including the validity of the 
methodology and assumptions used;
    3. Enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to 
be collected; and
    4. Minimize the burden of the collection of information on those 
who are to respond, including through the use of appropriate automated, 
electronic, mechanical, or other technological collection techniques or 
other forms of information technology, e.g., permitting electronic 
submissions of responses.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Brian DeWyngaert, 202-297-7639, 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: CISA serves as ``a Federal civilian 
interface for the multi-directional and cross-sector sharing of 
information related to cyber threat indicators, defensive measures, 
cybersecurity risks, incidents, analysis, and warnings for Federal and 
non-Federal entities.'' 6 U.S.C. 659(c)(1).
    As such, CISA is responsible for performing, coordinating, and 
supporting response to information security incidents, which may 
originate outside the Federal community and affect users within it, or 
originate within the Federal community and affect users outside of it. 
CISA uses the information from incident reports to develop timely and 
actionable information for distribution to Federal departments and 
agencies; State, local, Tribal, and territorial (SLTT) governments; 
critical infrastructure owners and operators; private industry; and 
international organizations. Often, the effective handling of security 
incidents relies on information sharing among individual users, 
industry, and the Federal Government, which may be facilitated by and 
through CISA.
    Pursuant to the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 
2014 (FISMA), 44 U.S.C. 3552 et seq., CISA operates the Federal 
information security incident center for the United States Federal 
Government. 44 U.S.C. 3556. Federal agencies notify and consult with 
CISA regarding information security incidents involving Federal 
information systems. CISA provides Federal agencies with technical 
assistance and guidance on detecting and handling security incidents, 
compiles and analyze incident information that threatens information 
security, informs agencies of current and potential threats and 
vulnerabilities, and provides intelligence or other information about 
cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and incidents to agencies. 44 U.S.C. 
3556(a). CISA also receives incident reports from non-Federal entities 
who are reporting to satisfy existing regulatory, statutory, and/or 
contractual requirements. Finally, CISA receives voluntary incident 
reports from non-Federal entities.
    CISA's website (at https://www.cisa.gov/) is a primary tool used by 
constituents to report incident information, access information sharing 
products and services, and interact with CISA. Constituents, which may 
include anyone or any entity in the public, use forms located on CISA's 
website to complete these activities. Incident reports are primarily 
submitted using CISA's current Incident Reporting Portal, available at 
https://www.cisa.gov/forms/report. This proposed collection instrument 
will replace the current form if it is approved by the Office of 
Management and Budget.
    By accepting incident reports and feedback, and interacting among 
Federal agencies, industry, the research community, State and local 
governments, and others to disseminate reasoned and actionable 
cybersecurity information to the public, CISA has provided a way for 
citizens, businesses, and other institutions to communicate and 
coordinate directly with the Federal Government about cybersecurity.
    Incident reports are collected through the Incident Reporting 
Portal, which enables end users to report incidents and indicators as 
well as submit malware artifacts associated with incidents to CISA. 
This information is used by CISA to conduct analyses and provide 
warnings of system threats and vulnerabilities, and to develop 
mitigation strategies as appropriate. This ICR also requests the user's 
name, email address, organization, infrastructure sector and sub-
sector. The primary purpose for the collection of this contact and 
industry information is to allow CISA to contact requestors regarding 
their report.
    In addition to web-based electronic forms, information may be 
collected through email or telephone. These methods enable individuals, 
private sector entities, personnel working at other Federal or state 
agencies, and international entities, including individuals, companies 
and other nations' governments to submit information.
    This proposed collection of information will replace CISA's current 
incident reporting form. The questions included in this proposed new 
incident reporting form represent the universe of all possible 
questions that CISA may use for incident report information collection 
purposes across the multiple use cases outlined above. In no 
circumstance would a respondent be presented all the questions in this 
proposed collection. In CISA's Incident Reporting Portal respondents 
will be directed to answer only an applicable subset of the questions 
based on the characteristics of the reporting entity, the reasons for 
which they are reporting, and the nature of the incident. The dynamic 
design of the Incident Reporting Portal means that the user experience 
flow from question to question is driven by the individual respondent's 
responses. No respondent will be prompted to answer all the questions 
included in this package for review and approval.
    This collection of information is distinct from CISA's efforts to 
implement the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act 
of 2022 (CIRCIA) covered cyber incident and ransom payment reporting 
requirements. On April 4, 2024, CISA published the CIRCIA notice of 
proposed rulemaking (NPRM). 89 FR 23644 (Apr. 4, 2024). Among other 
aspects of the proposed rulemaking, the CIRCIA NPRM described the 
proposed required content of CIRCIA reports. The public comment for 
that NPRM closed on July 3, 2024, and CISA is currently reviewing and 
considering comments as it develops the CIRCIA final rule. However, 
CISA clarifies that reporting under CIRCIA will not go into effect 
until the effective date of the CIRCIA final rule, which is anticipated 
to be late 2025 or early 2026.
    As described above, the purpose of this ICR is to replace CISA's 
current Incident Reporting Form (approved under OMB control number 
1670-0037) which is used to collect incident reports under CISA's non-
CIRCIA authorities (including FISMA) or other existing regulatory, 
statutory, and/or contractual requirements that provide for reporting 
of incidents to CISA. This collection is intended to replace the 
current Incident Reporting Form, prior to the effective date of the 
CIRCIA final rule, with a revised question set that will enrich the 
value and analytical capabilities on the data collected under these 
other incident reporting and information sharing authorities. In other 
words, CIRCIA incident reports will utilize their own set of questions, 
rather than the question set for this information collection request.
    Because this effort is distinct from the CIRCIA final rule 
development, comments submitted in response to this Federal Register 
notice will not be

[[Page 5935]]

considered comments on the CIRCIA NPRM or otherwise considered as part 
of the development of the CIRCIA final rule. Further, because CISA is 
still actively in the process of considering comments received in 
response to the CIRCIA NPRM, this ICR should not be viewed as 
indicating how CISA will resolve such comments as part of the final 
rule.

CISA Proposed Revisions to This Collection

    CISA proposes to revise this collection as follows:
     CISA maintains most of the questions from the 60-day 
notice, however, based on comments received, CISA proposes to 
streamline and consolidate some of the originally proposed questions to 
reduce burden for respondents that is derived from the collection 
originally proposed during the 60-day public comment period. CISA 
proposes to use a further streamlined minimum collection set and 
augment this minimum set with questions to address the specific data 
collection needs for FISMA, Federal Risk and Authorization Management 
Program (FEDRAMP), or regulations whose regulators use this information 
collection request to collect reporting information. The dynamic nature 
of the information collection request will allow CISA to use 
combinations of the questions, as appropriate, to address reporting 
needs based upon the context of the report. Overall, the revised 
question set streamlines and consolidates previously proposed 
questions, accordingly CISA does not anticipate in increase in burden 
for this collection.

Responses to Comments Received During 60-Day Comment Period

    CISA received three comments during the 60-day public comment 
period in response to the information collection request (ICR) 
published in the Federal Register on October 7, 2024.\1\ 89 FR 81097. 
The three comments received are summarized below along with CISA's 
response to those comments.
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    \1\ The unrelated public comment may be viewed at https://www.regulations.gov/comment/CISA-2024-0025-0005. This comment 
applies to the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure 
Act of 2022 (CIRCIA) covered cyber incident and ransom payment 
reporting requirements which is out of scope of this proposed 
collection.
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    Comment: One commenter suggested that a common issue among critical 
water infrastructure operations is a need for education on cyberattacks 
and resilience strategies based on their vulnerabilities. To address 
this concern and to spot trends affecting these types of entities, the 
commenter proposed updating the form to collect information on affected 
organizations' preparedness for the type of incident reported.
    Response: CISA agrees with the commenter's suggestion that the 
additional data would be a valuable way to gauge readiness across 
sectors or other groups. Further, CISA agrees that this data will 
improve CISA's ability to draw clearer conclusions about incident 
impact trends. Therefore, CISA proposes to add an additional question 
to the collection to gauge across a spectrum the impacted entity's 
readiness level to handle and respond to the cyber incident. The new 
question asks, how prepared the entity was to handle and respond to the 
incident? Answer choices are [Unprepared, Minimally Prepared, 
Moderately Prepared, Well Prepared] The below are example text which 
aims to help entities pick the correct choice.

1. Unprepared

     No incident response plan: No documented procedures for 
handling cyberattacks.
     Lack of awareness: Employees are not trained on 
cybersecurity best practices or how to identify threats.
     Basic or no security measures: Weak passwords, outdated 
software, no firewall or antivirus protection.
     No backups or disaster recovery plan: Data loss is a 
significant risk.

2. Minimally Prepared

     Basic incident response plan: A rudimentary document 
outlining basic steps to take in case of an incident.
     Some security measures: Antivirus software installed, 
basic firewall, some password policies in place.
     Occasional security awareness training: Employees receive 
some training, but it may be infrequent or inadequate.
     Basic backups: Some data is backed up, but the process may 
be inconsistent or incomplete.

3. Moderately Prepared

     Documented incident response plan: A comprehensive plan 
with defined roles, responsibilities, and procedures for various 
incident types.
     Regular security awareness training: Employees receive 
regular training on cybersecurity best practices, phishing awareness, 
and incident reporting.
     Robust security measures: Strong passwords, multi-factor 
authentication, up-to-date software, firewalls, intrusion detection 
systems, and regular vulnerability scanning.
     Regular backups and disaster recovery plan: Data is 
regularly backed up and a plan is in place to restore systems and data 
in case of a major incident.
     Incident response team: A designated team responsible for 
handling cyber incidents.

4. Well Prepared

     Advanced incident response plan: A detailed and regularly 
tested plan that includes incident simulation exercises and post-
incident analysis.
     Continuous security awareness training: Ongoing training 
and education to keep employees up to date on the latest threats and 
best practices.
     Advanced security measures: Proactive threat hunting, 
security information and event management (SIEM) systems, advanced 
malware protection, and penetration testing.
     Comprehensive backups and disaster recovery plan: Multiple 
backup locations, automated backups, and a detailed plan for business 
continuity and disaster recovery.
     Dedicated incident response team with external support: A 
well-trained internal team with access to external cybersecurity 
experts for specialized assistance.
     Cyber insurance: Coverage for potential financial losses 
resulting from cyber incidents.
    Further CISA will add these key terms as a hover over/tool tip as 
they relate to cyber incident preparedness:
     Prevention: Implementing security measures to prevent 
incidents from occurring in the first place.
     Detection: Identifying and detecting incidents as quickly 
as possible.
     Response: Taking appropriate actions to contain the 
incident, minimize damage, and restore systems and data.
     Recovery: Restoring normal operations and implementing 
measures to prevent future incidents.
    By understanding these levels of preparedness, we can assess the 
entities current state and identify areas for improvement to better 
protect entities with like preparedness profiles.
    Comment: One commenter raised the role of Domain Name System (DNS) 
security logs, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) data, and 
internet Protocol (IP) address management log data in incident response 
and reporting. The commenter proposed updating the Data Sharing and 
Logging Readiness section of the form so that respondents could 
indicate whether they have current and historical DNS security data, 
DHCP log data, and IP address management log data to share with CISA.
    Response: CISA concurs with this suggestion and proposes to add the

[[Page 5936]]

recommended language to the Data Sharing and Logging Readiness section 
of the collection.
    Comment: One commenter raised that CISA should reduce the number of 
requested fields and the amount of detail requested in the proposed 
collection to reduce burden on reporters. Specifically, the commenter 
suggested that CISA delete or reshape questions pertaining to: 
``Violation of Law and Policy'' (i.e., whether the incident breaches a 
law or private industry or policy standard), ``Identify the impacted 
users'' (i.e., the types of users impacted by the incident), and 
``Instance of Impacted Systems'' (i.e., a set of questions asking for 
details on each impacted system, including system type, location, and 
services provided).
    Response: CISA partially agrees with the commenter's suggestions. 
As detailed above, CISA is proposing a streamlined and consolidated 
minimum question set to reduce burden for respondents that is derived 
from and covers the same scope of questions the collection originally 
proposed during the 60-day public comment period. CISA also agrees that 
the content surrounding the ``Violation of Law and Policy'' was 
unnecessary and proposed removing it from this collection. CISA agrees 
in part with the suggestion to reshape or eliminate the detailed system 
information on impacted systems because it could be overly burdensome, 
in some cases, as suggested by the commentor. When incidents involving 
destructive (e.g., ransomware) or denial effects are reported, the 
impacted entity should not be required to provide the full details for 
each system, and that like systems should be grouped together. However, 
if specific details of a system or a group of systems lead and/or 
contributed to the destructive or denial effects experienced by the 
impacted entity(ies) then, CISA proposes to collect those system 
details and any associated vulnerabilities. CISA has updated the 
proposed collection to reflect this change. Finally, CISA partially 
agrees with the suggestion to eliminate or reshape the proposed the 
Impacted User content in the proposed collection. CISA has updated the 
streamlined question set to query for the number of impacted users and 
not the user type or impact. However, for entities reporting under 
FISMA, FEDRAMP, or entities covered by other regulations whose 
regulators who require it, CISA proposes to ask the question as 
proposed in the 60-day notice. CISA believes that these types of 
reporting entities should describe the data impact differences of 
internal users and external users, if both user types had data impacts 
during the incident, in the incident description and updated as 
appropriate in supplemental reports. For FISMA, FEDRAMP, and other 
regulations, this information is necessary for the Federal Government 
to determine the impact and scale of the incident, as well as necessary 
for the Federal Government to determine the appropriate response.
    This collection of information will not have a significant economic 
impact on a substantial number of small entities. Based on an average 
of 26,000 respondents and the current hourly compensation rates, the 
burden and cost estimates are as follows: the burden hour estimate for 
an initial report is 52,000 hours and 146,250 hours for subsequent 
updates to the initial report. The annual burden cost is $8,870,611. 
The annual Government cost is $$4,351,162.

Analysis

    Agency: Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), 
Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
    Title: Clearance for the Collection of Information through CISA 
Reporting Form.
    OMB Number: 1670-NEW.
    Frequency: Annually.
    Affected Public: State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial Governments, 
Private Sector, and Academia..
    Number of Respondents: 26,000
    Estimated Time Per Respondent: 3 hours (Initial Report) 7.5 hours 
(Updated Report).
    Total Burden Hours: 198,250.
    Total Annualized Respondent Cost: $8,870,611.
    Total Annualized Government Cost: $4,351,162.

Robert J. Costello,
Chief Information Officer, Department of Homeland Security, 
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
[FR Doc. 2025-01165 Filed 1-16-25; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 9111-LF-P
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