The National Council of ISACs (NCI), with planning and support provided by council member, the REN-ISAC, hosted a Congressional briefing on Thursday, September 23 at 1:00pm ET to highlight the critical role that Information Sharing and Analysis Centers play in national cybersecurity protection. The briefing covered how the 27 members of NCI support national areas of critical infrastructure and how Congress can help them be even more successful.
Congressman John Katko, (R – New York’s 24th District), began the briefing by urging Congress to continue to foster the public / private collaboration of ISACs. “I firmly believe ISACs play a key role in defending critical infrastructure, the Federal Government, and private and public sector networks.” Katko called ISACs a “cornerstone for our nation’s multipronged approach to sharing information on cyber and physical security threats.”
Denise Anderson, NCI Chair and President and CEO of Health-ISAC, reiterated the valuable role of the ISACs, “We have a strong reach into our sectors. If an incident happens, we can quickly share information as well as assess any impact to owners and operators.”
NCI, formed in 2003, is a cross-sector partnership, providing a forum for sharing cyber and physical threats and mitigation strategies among the various critical infrastructure ISACs. The ISAC threat sharing model – based in the private sector and collaborating with government and law enforcement – helps shield American enterprises from threat actors.
During the update, Congress learned ISACs continue to closely monitor the increase of ransomware on the current threat landscape, and NCI recently published Statement on Ransomware, a multi-ISAC collaboration outlining security best practices enterprises can use.
Expounding on various methods of sharing, Erin Miller, Executive Director of Space ISAC, described 13 different communities of interest where companies in her sector share between one another around specific topics, such as the Supply Chain Risk Management working group. Miller explained how the newer Space-ISAC sought out collaboration opportunities with other ISACs. “We ran an extremely successful Value of Space Summit with FS-ISAC, Maritime Transportation System ISAC, and Communications ISAC, around how they could assist Space ISAC if the Space system went down.”
The Research & Education Networks Information Sharing & Analysis (REN-ISAC) played a key role in the planning and execution of the event. “We are proud to have been a contributor to this important update to Congress on the vital role that ISACs play across the national cybersecurity landscape,” noted Charles Conner-Rondot, Chief of Engagement for the REN-ISAC. “The alliances represented by the ISACs are far-reaching and critical in protecting the entire nation from cyber threats.”
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