Obama's cyber order to spur companies to share cyber threat data

[WASHINGTON] President Barack Obama is set to announce a new cybersecurity executive order on Friday designed to encourage companies to share information about cyber threats, White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel told reporters.

The executive action will kick off a process for setting standards and security protocols for new private sector-led "information sharing and analysis organisations" (ISAOs) - hubs where companies share cyber threat data with each other and with the Department of Homeland Security.

In a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Mr Daniel said the new executive action could increase support for Obama's proposed information-sharing legislation that would offer liability protection to companies participating in ISAOs. "We believe that by clearly defining what makes for a good ISAO, that will make tying liability protection to sectoral organizations easier and more accessible to the public and to privacy and civil liberties advocates," Mr Daniel said.

REUTERS