The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) hosted an open forum of the Information Sharing and Analysis Organization Standards Organization (ISAO SO) today. The ISAO SO announced leaders of six collaborative groups and moved forward with plans to develop cybersecurity information sharing standards, in accordance with an executive order issued by President Obama in February 2015.
In September, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security selected a UTSA-led team as the ISAO SO, responsible for developing cybersecurity information sharing standards and collaboration between the private sector and government. The other members of the team are the Logistics Management Institute (LMI) and Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center (R-CISC).
Since the announcement, the ISAO SO has assembled an impressive leadership team across several of the nation’s public and private cybersecurity institutions. The team is guiding six Standards Working Groups in response to Presidential Executive Order 13691, which called for the creation and standardization of ISAOs.
“I am very pleased that more than 100 experts from various industry sectors, the government, and academia are already engaged in our standards working groups and positioned to help the Nation establish a viable national information sharing program,” said Gregory B. White, executive director of the ISAO SO and director of the UTSA Center for Infrastructure Assurance and Security.
The Standards Working Groups (SWG) have already established their leadership, held meetings, and are continuing to accept additional members. During the formation of the groups and establishment of leadership, the ISAO SO received numerous professional opinions regarding best practices and continues to solicit examples and suggestions on existing standards, guidelines, and best practices that can be shared as provisional guidance until formal ISAO standards are established.
“Some of the best minds in our nation are coming together to work on this effort. Together, we can fundamentally change the landscape of information sharing,” said Mike Echols, DHS Director of the Cyber Joint Program Management Office.
During the forum, the ISAO SO leadership introduced the six initial Standards Working group chairs and vice-chairs, who then met with members during breakout sessions. During the sessions the SWG leadership introduced the goals for each of the working groups and invited questions and comments from public attendees.
“We are very pleased that within the first four months we have created an infrastructure for collaboration within the community and are already seeing a robust dialogue,” stated Rick Lipsey, deputy director of the ISAO SO and senior strategist at LMI.