Statement by Secure Halo on FBI’s iguardian platform for cyber threat reporting

Executive Order 13636 - Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity

August 8, 2013

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Secure Halo

Secure Halo Expert: Platform Complementary to Executive Order 13636; Highlights U.S. Government’s Commitment to Value-based Cyber Programs for Private Sector

Washington, D.C. – While U.S. Executive Order 13636 represents a new policy emphasis on public and private sector coordination on cyber threats, the FBI’s recent launch of iGuardian is a complementary initiative dedicated to the mutual benefit of government and industry. It is a mechanism designed to expedite and augment the cyber security dialogue between private industry and the FBI.  It also extends to private industry actors that are not officially designated as critical infrastructure, which is the primary scope of E.O. 13636.  More importantly, however, it demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to establishing cyber programs that create value for participating US businesses.

While not a replacement for corporate security investments, iGuardian is intended to transform cyber partnerships into enabling proactive and preventative postures.  For example, it is intended to facilitate assessments of sophisticated cyber adversaries within and across sectors, aimed at exposing shared as well as unique cyber threats and vulnerabilities. Rather than evaluating cyber threat data from an exclusively enterprise-centric view, this portal will assist FBI’s generation of crosscutting examinations that result in improved cyber awareness and ultimately the dissemination of actionable information to private industry.  In short, it enables industry to benefit from the skills and expertise of US Government cyber technologists, while still maintaining and tailoring enterprise cyber investments.

Collaboration between the public and private sectors is requisite to the defense of US economic ingenuity.  Neither sector in isolation has at its disposal the depth and breadth of skills, resources and information required to stem the tide of cyber attacks.  In the cyber realm, national security concerns and economic interests are interleaved, as is public-private sectors’ interest in defense of American cyber posture.

“Participation in programs such as iGuardian will enable industry trailblazers to shape the scope and outcome of this nascent mechanism for dialogue with the US government – assuring it meets the bottom line needs of the US commercial sector and the Executive Branch,” says Natalie Lehr, Secure Halo’s co-founder and Director of Analytics. “It is a critical step in exposing the barriers and tackling the uncertainties surrounding cyber risk and federal dialogue with private industry,” she said.

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