NIST, CISA Release Draft Report on Token Security

NIST and CISA release a draft interagency report for public comment on protecting authentication tokens and assertions from theft and misuse.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have jointly released a draft interagency report for public comment focused on securing authentication tokens and assertions against tampering, theft, and misuse. This guidance addresses a critical vulnerability in modern digital identity systems, where stolen tokens can grant attackers prolonged, undetected access to systems and data. The report provides technical recommendations for developers and organizations to enhance the security posture of their federated identity and single sign-on (SSO) implementations.

This collaborative guidance from leading federal cybersecurity authorities contrasts with the fragmented, vendor-specific advice that has previously dominated the space. The draft represents a unified federal framework for mitigating one of the most common and impactful attack vectors in cloud security. Releasing this draft for public comment is the critical step to refine the guidance with industry input. This matters because it aims to establish a stronger, standardized baseline for token protection that, if widely adopted, could significantly reduce the success rate of identity-based attacks and data breaches.

For software developers, enterprise security teams, and identity and access management (IAM) vendors, the implications are technical and operational. This development necessitates a review of current authentication protocols and token management practices against the proposed recommendations. The forecast is for the final report to influence procurement requirements and security audit criteria. Decision-makers must plan to incorporate the guidance into their software development life cycle (SDLC) and risk management processes. The next imperative for NIST and CISA is to actively engage with the public comment period, synthesize feedback, and publish a final report that provides actionable, clear guidance to strengthen the national cybersecurity resilience of digital authentication infrastructure.