Feds Give ‘OK’ to Businesses to Share Cybersecurity Threat Info

On Thursday, the Justice Department and Federal Trade Commission sent corporate America a policy statement stating that it was OK to share cyber threat information, according to The Business Journals.

“This statement should help private businesses by making it clear that antitrust laws do not stand in the way of legitimate sharing of cybersecurity threat information,” FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez told the journal.

Many business groups like MasterCard were grateful for the clarification because it demonstrated a productive public-private sector consultation.  For Assistant Attorney General Bill Baer, he felt that there needed to be a safeguard put in place.

“Cyber threats are increasing in number and sophistication, and sharing information about these threats, such as incident reports, indicators and threat signatures, is something companies can do to protect their information systems and help secure our nation’s infrastructure,” Assistant Attorney General Baer said. “With proper safeguards in place, cyber threat information sharing can occur without posing competitive concerns.”