The United States is creating a new cyber security agency to focus on cyber-threats and centralize threat intelligence for use by existing federal agencies.
The newly formed Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC) will aim to provide "integrated, all-source analysis” for "seamless intelligence flows among centers, including those responsible for sharing with the private sector," a senior Obama administration official told Reuters.
Our CTO Mark Kedgley shares his thoughts on this story:
"It’s a welcome initiative although it leaves you wondering why this hasn’t existed up until now? Has each agency and department really just been left to fend for themselves, duplicating threat intelligence capabilities and costs?
One would imagine that with PRISM-like capabilities and the ‘Black Bag’ hacking tool armory at the disposal of the NSA, the threat intelligence available to the Government would be unmatched by anything the commercial sector can offer, so it’s slightly surprising that these resources haven’t previously been leveraged?
One issue the new Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center will need to deal with is how they handle the wide-ranging needs of the 'consumers' of their service.
The context of vulnerabilities is a key factor when classifying the severity of the risk; Some Government departments will naturally be targeted more than others, and similarly, there will also be a large variation in cybersecurity defense measures and security best practices being operated.
To this end, a one-size fits all threat assessment may not work, either by being too behind the curve for some while being too overkill for others - maybe the $35M assigned will be enough to handle this issue?"
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