DHS Seeks Advice on Building a Cyber-Attack Database

The Homeland Security Department wants input on an idea for a broad cybersecurity incident database, accessible by members of the public and private sectors. 

Businesses could use the database to assess how their cyber practices stack up against competitors, and the federal government could upload its own cyberthreat predictions, DHS suggests in a new white paper fleshing out the concept. 

Such a repository would ask participants to share specific but anonymized details about cyberincidents and threats, including details such as attack timeline, apparent goal and prevention measures.

Until the end of May, DHS is collecting comments on the concept and wants responses on three recent white papers it issued outlining benefits, obstacles and data points participants might be asked to contribute to the repository.

There are currently no concrete plans to build or manage that repository, DHS says, and the database could even be managed by a private organization.

But the current administration has long encouraged the public and private sectors to share more information about cyberthreats to prevent future incidents.

Last February, President Barack Obama issued an executive order directing DHS to promote “Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations” -- sector- or subsector-specific groups sharing information about cyberthreats and practices, and "Information Sharing and Analysis Organizations" that would develop cyber standards. 

DHS' white papers suggest a shared repository could help organizations calculate the return on their investment in cybersecurity, helping to assess cyber risk. But "unintended consequences" of such a database include the fact that "aggregated data" showing the "total costs or impacts of certain types of incidents to certain industries" could drive up the insurance cost for common cyberincidents, DHS wrote.

The department is collecting comment on various points, including: 

• A description of the data points associated with cyberincidents that would be useful to other organizations
• Potential benefits of a repository not mentioned in the white paper 
• Types of analysis that would be useful to a participating organization 
• Anticipated obstacles that could prevent the repository model from functioning smoothly
• Why potential participants might say no to sharing this information