U.S. to create central cyber intelligence agency

With the nation standing “at a crossroads” for cybersecurity, the federal government will soon launch a centralized agency for cyber threat intelligence, according to Lisa Monaco, homeland security advisor to President Barack Obama.

“It has become clear that we can do more as a government to quickly consolidate, analyze, and provide assessments on threats or cyber attacks,” Monaco stated.

The new entity, called the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center, will be modeled on effective counterterrorism groups within the government, Monaco said during a speech at the Wilson Center in Washington, D.C.  It will be under the auspices of the director of national intelligence and, rather than collecting any data on its own, will instead analyze and report on data already authorized to be collected by other government agencies.

“Currently, no single entity is responsible for producing coordinated responses and sharing cyber threats,” Monaco said. “This will fill these gaps.”

Introduced as having the “worst job in Washington and the most essential,” Monaco emphasized the need for federal action on cybersecurity, listing off the now-well-known data breaches that have occurred and the risks that every day “grow more diverse, more sophisticated, and more dangerous.”

Data breaches have grown five-fold since 2009, she explained, adding, “No one, it seems, is immune.”

For federal policymakers, the issue now stands at whether cyberspace “will remain a great asset” or become “an increasing liability,” Monaco stated. She added that government needs to “develop the same muscle memory in cyberspace” as it has in counterterrorism.

The private sector has a far greater role to play in detecting and analyzing the cyber threats affecting organizations, government, and consumers, and Monaco urged congressional passage of bills promoted by President Obama that would offer liability protection for private companies that share threat information.

“This will continue to be a defining challenge of the 21^st century,” she concluded. “Our prosperity and security depend upon the Internet being secure against threats.”