U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Official websites use .gov
A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS
A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Applied Cybersecurity Division /NICE

NICE Framework Resource Center

The NICE Framework provides a common lexicon for describing and sharing information about cybersecurity work.

The NICE Workforce Framework for Cybersecurity (NICE Framework) (NIST Special Publication 800-181, revision 1) provides a set of building blocks for describing the tasks, knowledge, and skills that are needed to perform cybersecurity work performed by individuals and teams. Through these building blocks, the NICE Framework enables organizations to develop their workforces to perform cybersecurity work, and it helps learners to explore cybersecurity work and to engage in appropriate learning activities to develop their knowledge and skills.

If you are new to the NICE Framework, the Getting Started page has information to help you familiarize yourself with the NICE Framework and its components. The Current Version page features additional information about the NICE Framework, including a Reference Spreadsheet with detailed listings of NICE Framework components and JSON files to support use of the NICE Framework in web and other applications. Current and prospective users of the NICE Framework are encouraged to join the NICE Framework Users Group.

Latest Updates 

  • On June 21, 2023 NICE published NIST Internal Report (NISTIR) 8355, NICE Framework Competencies: Preparing a Job-Ready Cybersecurity Workforce, announced a call for comments on the new proposed List of NICE Framework Competency Areas, and posted a Competency Area Authoring Guide. Learn more here.
  • On April 17, 2023, NICE released proposed updates to NICE Framework Work Role Categories and Work Roles for comment by June 23, 2023. Learn more here.
  • On December 5, 2022 at the NICE K12 Cybersecurity Education Conference, the NICE Program Office announced the NICE Framework K12 FAQ. Learn more here. 
  • On August 2, 2022 the NICE Program Office submitted the report "Measuring Cybersecurity Workforce Capabilities: Defining a Proficiency Scale for the NICE Framework" to Congress. Learn more here. 
  • On June 7, 2022 the NICE Framework Users Group met at the NICE Conference & Expo in Atlanta, Georgia. Learn more here. 
  • On June 6, 2022 NICE held a workshop at the NICE Conference & Expo on "Using NICE Framework Competencies to Build a Better Cybersecurity Workforce." Learn more here. 
  • On April 19, 2022 NICE released draft refactored Knowledge and Skill statements for public comment. Learn more here.

Latest Updates

Contacts

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NICE FRAMEWORK