Agency Information Collection Activities: Information Collection Renewal; Comment Request; FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool

AGENCY:

Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Treasury.

ACTION:

Notice and request for comment.

SUMMARY:

The OCC, on behalf of itself, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (Board), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) (collectively, the Agencies), as part of its continuing effort to reduce paperwork and respondent burden, invites the general public and other Federal agencies to comment on a continuing information collection as required by the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA). In accordance with the requirements of the PRA, the Agencies may not conduct or sponsor, and the respondent is not required to respond to, an information collection unless it displays a currently valid Office of Management and Budget (OMB) control number. The OCC is soliciting comment on behalf of the Agencies concerning renewal of the information collection titled, “FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool” (Assessment).

DATES:

Comments must be submitted on or before August 1, 2022.

ADDRESSES:

Commenters are encouraged to submit comments by email, if possible. You may submit comments by any of the following methods:

• Email: prainfo@occ.treas.gov.

• Mail: Chief Counsel's Office, Attention: Comment Processing, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Attention: 1557-0328, 400 7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218, Washington, DC 20219.

• Hand Delivery/Courier: 400 7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218, Washington, DC 20219.

• Fax: (571) 465-4326.

Instructions: You must include “OCC” as the agency name and “1557-0328” in your comment. In general, the OCC will publish comments on www.reginfo.gov without change, including any business or personal information provided, such as name and address information, email addresses, or phone numbers. Comments received, including attachments and other supporting materials, are part of the public record and subject to public disclosure. Do not include any information in your comment or supporting materials that you consider confidential or inappropriate for public disclosure.

Following the close of this notice's 60-day comment period, the OCC will publish a second notice with a 30-day comment period. You may review comments and other related materials that pertain to this information collection beginning on the date of publication of the second notice for this collection by the method set forth in the next bullet.

• Viewing Comments Electronically: Go to www.reginfo.gov. Hover over the “Information Collection Review” drop down menu. From the “Currently under Review” drop-down menu, select “Department of Treasury” and then click “submit.” This information collection can be located by searching by OMB control number “1557-0328” or “FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool.” Upon finding the appropriate information collection, click on the related “ICR Reference Number.” On the next screen, select “View Supporting Statement and Other Documents” and then click on the link to any comment listed at the bottom of the screen.

• For assistance in navigating www.reginfo.gov, please contact the Regulatory Information Service Center at (202) 482-7340.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Shaquita Merritt, OCC Clearance Officer, Chief Counsel's Office, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, 400 7th Street SW, Suite 3E-218, Washington, DC 20219. If you are deaf, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability, please dial 7-1-1 to access telecommunications relay services.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

Under the PRA (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq. ), Federal agencies must obtain approval from OMB for each collection of information they conduct or sponsor. “Collection of information” is defined in 44 U.S.C. 3502(3) and 5 CFR 1320.3(c) to include agency requests or requirements that members of the public submit reports, keep records, or provide information to a third party. The definition contained in 5 CFR 1320.3(c) also includes a voluntary collection. Section 3506(c)(2)(A) of title 44 requires Federal agencies to provide a 60-day notice in the Federal Register concerning each proposed collection of information, including each proposed extension of an existing collection of information, before submitting the collection to OMB for approval. To comply with this requirement, the OCC is publishing, on behalf of the Agencies, a notice of the proposed extension of the collection of information set forth in this document.

Title: FFIEC Cybersecurity Assessment Tool. OMB Number: 1557-0328.

Description: Cyber threats continue to evolve and increase in frequency and sophistication. Financial institutions are exposed to cyber risks because they are dependent on information technology to deliver services to consumers and businesses every day. Cyber attacks on financial institutions may result in unauthorized access to, and the compromise of, confidential information, as well as the destruction of critical data and systems. Disruption, degradation, or unauthorized alteration of information and systems can affect a financial institution's operations and core processes and undermine confidence in the nation's financial services sector. Absent immediate attention to these rapidly increasing threats, financial institutions and the financial sector as a whole are at risk.

For this reason, the Agencies, under the auspices of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), have worked diligently to assess and enhance the state of the financial industry's cyber preparedness and to improve the Agencies' examination procedures and training to strengthen the oversight of financial industry cybersecurity readiness. The Agencies also have focused on providing financial institutions with resources that can assist in protecting them and their customers from the growing risks posed by cyber attacks.

As part of these efforts, the Agencies, with the other FFIEC members, developed the Assessment to assist financial institutions of all sizes in assessing their inherent cyber risks and their risk management capabilities. The Assessment allows a financial institution to identify its inherent cyber risk profile based on technologies and connection types, delivery channels, online/mobile products and technology services, organizational characteristics, and cyber threats it is likely to face. Once a financial institution identifies its inherent cyber risk profile, it can use the Assessment's maturity matrix to evaluate its level of cybersecurity preparedness based on its cyber risk management and oversight, threat intelligence and collaboration, cybersecurity controls, external dependency management, and cyber incident management and resiliency planning. A financial institution may use the matrix's maturity levels to identify opportunities for improving its cyber risk management based on its inherent risk profile. The Assessment also enables a financial institution to rapidly identify areas that could improve the financial institution's cyber response programs, as appropriate. Use of the Assessment by financial institutions is voluntary.

Type of Review: Regular.

Affected Public: Businesses or other for-profit.

Burden Estimates:

Number of Respondents: 12,781.

Total Burden: 1,154,150 hours.

Comments submitted in response to this notice will be summarized and included in the request for OMB approval. All comments will become a matter of public record. Comments are invited on: (a) Whether the collection of information is necessary for the proper performance of the functions of the Agencies, including whether the information has practical utility; (b) The accuracy of the Agencies' estimates of the burden of the collection of information; (c) Ways to enhance the quality, utility, and clarity of the information to be collected; (d) Ways to minimize the burden of the collection on respondents, including through the use of automated collection techniques or other forms of information technology; and (e) Estimates of capital or start-up costs and costs of operation, maintenance, and purchase of services to provide information.