NIST Opens Public Input Window on AI Agent Security
The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Center for AI Standards and Innovation (CAISI) has issued a request for information (RFI) seeking public input on securing artificial intelligence agents. The sixty-day comment window allows stakeholders—developers, deployers, security researchers, and federal agencies—to shape NIST’s guidance on agentic AI security, evaluation methods, and best practices.
AI agents are autonomous systems capable of taking independent actions to complete tasks without constant human intervention. Unlike chatbots designed for interactive dialogue, agents can access systems, make decisions, and execute workflows autonomously. NIST is specifically seeking input on security threats and vulnerabilities unique to agents, security best practices for agent development and deployment, methods for assessing agent security, and approaches to monitoring or constraining agent environments to mitigate risk.
This RFI represents an early opportunity to influence federal procurement standards, compliance requirements, and validation methodologies for agentic AI. Federal CIOs and system integrators planning agent deployments should review the RFI and submit comments aligned with their operational and security requirements.
2026-01-07: https://fedscoop.com/nist-input-agentic-ai-security-best-practices-caisi/
Google Vertex AI Agent Engine Billing Changes Effective January 28
Google Cloud announced pricing changes to its Vertex AI Agent Engine, effective January 28, 2026. Three core agent capabilities—Sessions, Memory Bank, and Code Execution—will transition from free to metered billing. Runtime pricing will be lowered to offset some cost increases, but organizations piloting agents in production will experience cost changes as they scale.
Agent memory is a critical capability for maintaining context across multi-turn interactions. As this capability moves to metered billing, organizations should review their pilot architectures, cost projections, and production scaling plans. FinOps teams should assess whether agent memory is essential to their use cases or whether alternative architectures can reduce costs.
This change signals Google’s transition of agent capabilities from experimental to production-grade services. Organizations should validate their cost models and architecture decisions before January 28 to avoid surprises in production billing.
2026-01: https://docs.cloud.google.com/agent-builder/release-notes
NIST Updates Cryptographic Key-Establishment Standards for Hybrid Secrets
The National Institute of Standards and Technology is revising its foundational cryptographic standards for key establishment (SP 800-56A and SP 800-56C) to support hybrid secrets and new key-encapsulation mechanisms. These updates modernize federal cryptographic guidance to address emerging threats, including quantum computing risks.
The revisions allow shared secrets to incorporate approved key-encapsulation mechanisms and expand hybrid formatting options. This guidance will cascade into product roadmaps, cryptographic library updates, and long-term security compliance planning for federal agencies and contractors.
Organizations managing cryptographic infrastructure, evaluating cryptographic vendors, or planning multi-year security roadmaps should align their choices with NIST’s updated direction. This is particularly important for agencies subject to FIPS 140-3, CMMC, or other federal cryptographic compliance requirements.
2026-01: https://csrc.nist.gov/News/2026/nist-to-revise-key-establishment-recommendations
GAO Report Identifies Gaps in DOD Telework and Remote Work Evaluation
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a report identifying significant gaps in how the Department of Defense evaluates its telework and remote work programs. GAO found that DOD has not formally evaluated telework and remote work against agency goals, lacks consistent data quality, and has not established clear evaluation requirements.
The report calls for DOD to improve data collection, establish clearer evaluation metrics, and align telework policies with workforce and IT objectives. From an IT perspective, telework policies directly impact collaboration tooling, endpoint security, identity and access management, and information-sharing workflows. Organizations rethinking telework or remote work should establish solid IT and security baselines before finalizing policy decisions.
This GAO finding signals that federal agencies will face increased scrutiny on telework governance, data quality, and alignment with IT and security objectives.
2026-01-08: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107601
Federal AI Initiatives Ramping for 2026
Multiple federal AI initiatives are launching or expanding in 2026, signaling increased investment and adoption across agencies. Key initiatives include the Genesis Mission, new OMB guidance on AI governance, HHS AI strategy updates, and the White House’s National Design Studio.
The National Design Studio is modernizing high-visibility federal digital services, including OPM’s retirement application and the State Department’s passport platform. These modernization efforts reflect federal commitment to improving citizen-facing digital services and adopting modern technology stacks.
Federal CIOs and IT leaders should monitor these initiatives for procurement opportunities, technology partnerships, and insights into federal AI adoption priorities.
2026-01: https://www.whitehouse.gov
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