Threat Intelligence Sharing Act Kick-Started by US Homeland Security

Following the US Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015 passed by Congress and signed by President Obama, the Department of Homeland Security started sharing threat intelligence with businesses.

While companies can voluntarily adhere to the program and start sharing threat intelligence with the DHS, the program counts on the continuous cooperation of as many companies as possible. So far, six organizations have signed up to the threat intelligence disclosure program, with the DHS hoping more will join.

“This is a big deal,” said Andy Ozment, the assistant cybersecurity secretary at Homeland Security. “We’re not going to launch out the gates … and have thousands of companies sharing all sorts of information. We want to make sure we’re providing value and growing.”

The names of the participating companies seem to have been closely guarded by the DHS, as part of the Freedom of Information Act. Anonymizing participating companies is believed to draw support and persuade other private sector or non-federal entities to join the initiative.

“As companies come on board, we’ll learn more about what’s useful,” said Suzanne Spaulding, a top Homeland Security cyber official.

The same officials believe it’s a good sign that already six companies have joined the program and they’re confident more will follow, as implied by Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson at the agency’s Virginia-based data sharing hub when he was quoted as saying: “We are open for business, on time and on schedule.”