Government information sharing plans will be of a large benefit to both Government and the private sector.
Speaking at RSA Conference in San Francisco. Andy Ozment , assistant secretary of the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications (CS&C) within the National Protections and Programs Directorate (NPPD) of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), said that there is a need for Congress to clarify its sharing proposals.
He said that many companies already are sharing information, and information coming in from the private sector will provide a wide set of volumes.
Ozment acknowledged the announcement about the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIC) and said that it is a very different world from the National Cybersecurity Communications Integration Center (NCCIC), and CTIC really solves problem in Government that the private sector may not see.
“We may not have a fully integrated intelligence lens that we need, and regional analysts working in a particular country may find it difficult to get the information that we already have to get it integrated and shared, and we need to get a lens to help you in private sector,” he said.
“CTIC will be a service provider and gives NCCIC people information on intelligence on what thry need and you will not see CTIC in the private sector as it is a service provider for Government and youe integrations will not change and I don’t think this will be another Government agency to talk to. We can get better intelligence to help you.”
Asked about gathering non-malicious information, he admitted he was less worried about than on human error, but it vets information for that sort of thing. “How do we make sure we are not giving information to bad guys? We don’t and we are not worried about that, and the bad guys can figure that out and our philosophy is to get information out widely as we have all improved our defences widely anyway.”
He concluded by saying that a lot of work is needed with the academic community to learn beyond the tactical issues and increase the costs for the adversary so they cannot use it and move forward.
