15 U.S.C. § 5524

(a) General responsibilities As part of the Program described in subchapter I— (1) the National Institute of Standards and Technology shall— (A) conduct basic and applied measurement research needed to support various networking and information technology systems and capabilities; (B) develop and propose standards and guidelines, and develop measurement techniques and test methods, for the interoperability and usability of networking and information technology systems; and (C) be responsible for developing benchmark tests and standards for networking and information technology systems and software; and (2) the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shall conduct basic and applied research in weather prediction and ocean sciences, particularly in development of new forecast models, in computational fluid dynamics, and in the incorporation of evolving computer architectures and networks into the systems that carry out agency missions. (b) Networking and information technology security The National Institute of Standards and Technology shall be responsible for developing and proposing standards and guidelines needed to assure the cost-effective security and privacy of Federal agency information and information systems.