M15, British Govt to share threat data with private sector

British Police, spy outfit MI5 and the UK Government will join forces with members of the private sector under the Cyber Security Information Sharing Partnership (CISP) to improve access to shared information.

The partnership followed a successful information sharing pilot between 160 companies across UK sectors.

Cyber Security Strategy minister Francis Maude said the CISP would help identify threats against UK interests.

“The initiative meets a key aim of our Cyber Security Strategy - to make the UK one of the safest places to do business in cyber space," Maude said.

Information on threats and vulnerabilities would be exchanged in a virtual collaboration space and a ‘fusion cell' supported by the state Security Service, Communications Headquarters and the UK National Crime Agency, along with industry analysts.

The location of the London fusion cell was undisclosed.

Former White House cyber security adviser Howard Schmidt said the CISP was an important step in forging a partnership between industry and government.

“In the US, we have seen the emphasis that President Obama has placed on cyber security and in particular steps to protect our critical infrastructure. Many senior leaders in private sector companies are supporting it and recognising it is not only a security issue but a business imperative,” he said.

Terry Greer-King, UK managing director at Check Point, said: “This is a key step forward for both governments and business in fighting web attacks, and reducing their impact. It's essential that organisations collaborate and share intelligence with each other to track emerging threats, mitigate their severity or block them before they cause damage. Fighting threats together is much more effective than fighting alone."

McAfee public sector strategy director Graeme Stewart said the scheme should include smaller organisations. 

“We would however like to see the scheme provide outreach to include smaller and SME organisations," Stewart said.

"This sector makes up the supply chains of large corporate and government organisations and therefore a substantial portion of their risk comes from this supply chain failing to understand the threat posed by nefarious cyber activity.”

This article originally appeared at scmagazineuk.com