Homeland Security maps out Cybersecurity Act implementation

Guidelines and procedures laid out by the Cybersecurity Act of 2015 were issued on Tuesday by the Department of Homeland Security.

Federal agencies and private businesses are provided with a clear understanding of how to share cyber threat indicators with DHS’s National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC) by the guidelines, as well as how the agency will share and use that information.

“We know many cyber intrusions can be prevented if we share cyber threat indicators,” U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said. “These can include, for example, the subject line of a spear phishing email, or the IP address of the computer from which it originated. Sharing this kind of information in real-time, and swiftly applying defensive measures, will allow both the government and private sector to more effectively prevent attacks… This system allows automated, two-way sharing of cyber threat indicators between the government and private sector.”

Johnson added the agency has improved the existing sharing system and added new capabilities. He said that the law also provides companies with targeted liability protection for sharing cyber threat indicators with the Automated Indicator Sharing System. Additionally, the law provides two layers of privacy protections – the requirement of companies to remove personal information before sharing cyber threat indicators while requiring the DHS to implement its own process to conduct a privacy review of received information.