OMB Approves BIS Information Security Controls Interim Final Rule

Yesterday the OMB’s Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) announced that it had approved the interim final rule submitted by the DOC’s Bureau of Industry and Security (BIS) on “Information Security Controls: Cybersecurity Items”. This action is a continuation of the BIS attempt in 2015 to publish Export Administration Regulations (EAR) implementing export security controls on selected cybersecurity products. This rulemaking was submitted to OIRA on September 17^th, 2021.

Interestingly, the OIRA announcement list this as an ‘interim final rule’ while the Spring 2021 Unified Agenda listing shows that it should be a ‘notice of proposed rulemaking’. We will have to wait for BIS to publish the rule in the Federal Register in the coming week or two.