"Given the evolving nature of research security threats, security experts should embrace comprehensive, new, and novel security solutions," the National Security Science and Technology Strategy says.
The National Security Science and Technology Strategy and its aims
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy published the National Security Science and Technology Strategy that the Trump administration says is intended to preserve the United States’ global edge in research and innovation. The document frames the nation's science and technology ecosystem both as an asset to be leveraged and a surface that must be guarded from threats “that could impair U.S. economic and military strength and competitiveness.” It builds from last year’s National Security Strategy, which counseled “protecting the competitiveness of the U.S. economy and bolstering the resilience of the American technology sector.”
Automated research security vetting, continuous monitoring, and shared risk criteria
The strategy calls for research institutions and agencies to adopt more proactive controls, including “automated research security vetting” of agency-funded proposals and continuous monitoring of federally supported projects. It asks for creation of “risk-based review criteria and a repository of sharable information to enhance the efficiency of information collection and sharing among agencies,” tying automated tooling to improved interagency information flows.
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See what we buildCounterintelligence support and the FBI-led quantum protection team
The document advocates “bolstering counter-intelligence support to governmental and non-governmental research centers” so researchers receive “more immediate and timely insights into potential threats.” As an example, the strategy cites the FBI-led Quantum Information Science and Technology Counterintelligence Protection Team, which it says “brings an interagency team of quantum experts and security professionals to fine-tune technology protection and security outreach activities for the quickly evolving quantum R&D community.”
Cybersecurity guidelines and the role of the National Science Foundation
The strategy also calls for “establishing cybersecurity guidelines for researchers and research institutions,” although it provides few specifics about what those guidelines would require. The document notes that the National Science Foundation has a research security policy framework that includes some cyber-specific guidance as part of its broader blueprint, positioning NSF’s existing work as a partial model or contribution to the larger effort.
Workforce policy: attracting nonimmigrant tech workers and skills-based hiring
The implementation section places emphasis on education and talent: expanding K‑12 and higher-education training pipelines, and bringing more skilled talent into the federal workforce. It also departs from an earlier posture by explicitly calling to “attracting and retaining top-tier global talent in critical national security S&T fields.” The strategy says agencies will “collaborate on using existing authorities to recruit the exquisite talent necessary to ensure the national security S&T Enterprise leads the world in developing and applying these technologies.”
The shift contrasts with last year’s National Security Strategy language that warned the U.S. “cannot allow meritocracy to be used as a justification to open America’s labor market to the world in the name of finding ‘global talent’ that undercuts American workers.” The article notes President Donald Trump issued a proclamation in September 2025 that moved to restrict the number of H‑1B visas, arguing the program harmed American workers; that proclamation attempted to institute a $100,000 H‑1B visa fee, although a district court has overturned that mandate.
What this means for research institutions, agencies, and federal hires
- Research institutions will face pressure to adopt automated vetting and continuous project monitoring, and to work with a shared risk repository if agencies implement the strategy’s recommendations.
- Federal agencies are being asked to increase counterintelligence support and coordinate recruitment of nonimmigrant tech talent using existing authorities, steps that could change hiring and collaboration practices.
- Students and prospective tech workers may see expanded K‑12 and higher‑education programs aimed at national security S&T fields, even as visa-policy changes from 2025 remain a live legal and policy factor.
The strategy sets out a compact but ambitious set of priorities: speed innovation, harden domestic technological resilience, and focus S&T on maintaining battlefield advantage, countering strategic threats to the homeland, and shaping competition toward U.S. strengths. The document points to tools — automated vetting, shared repositories, and boosted counterintelligence support — without prescribing detailed rules or timelines. OSTP did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the strategy’s inclusion of the need to attract and retain global talent.
For readers seeking the original text and reporting, the Defense One story is here: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2026/08/white-house-st-strategy-calls-new-approaches-safeguard-us-research/415505/
