Intel Corp. put the voluntary cybersecurity framework President Barack Obama's administration released one year ago this month into action and has found it to be a useful tool, officials at the technology company said Tuesday.

The Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity, offered by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in February 2014, has provided Intel with a better understanding of its cyberrisks and data security priorities, among other benefits, said the company's chief security and privacy officer, Malcolm Harkins, and standards and technology policy director Kent Landfield. The guidelines are intended to help enhance the cyberdefenses of tech companies, utilities, banks and other businesses that work with critical infrastructure.

“Because we've taken the Framework out of the wrapper and made it a working tool, we feel confident in our belief that by focusing on risk management rather than compliance, the Framework has the potential to help transform cybersecurity on a global scale and accelerate cybersecurity across the compute continuum,” Harkins and Landfield wrote in a blog post.