Federal critical infrastructure protection policy under
the Department of Homeland Security and other federal
agencies has encouraged the creation of Information
Sharing and Analysis Centers to get private sector
entities to share information with the government, which
is proving to be a great challenge, the General Accounting
Office has said.
It said the ISACs were developed to serve the unique needs
of the sectors they represent and that they operate under
different business models and funding mechanisms.
ISAC representatives cited a number of challenges to their
successful establishment, operation, and partnership with
DHS and other federal agencies, including “increasing the
percentage of entities within each sector that are members
of its ISAC; building trusted relationships and processes
to facilitate information sharing; overcoming barriers to
information sharing, clarifying the roles and
responsibilities of the various government and private
sector entities that are involved in protecting critical
infrastructures; and funding ISAC operations and activities,”
according to GAO.
DHS said it was considering the above issues and was
developing a plan to document current information-sharing
relationships among DHS, the ISACs and other agencies as
well as goals for improving those relationships and methods
for measuring progress, said GAO.
