Obama Executive Order to Encourage Cybersecurity Information Sharing

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 organizations” (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, 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,” Daniel said.

(Reporting by Roberta Rampton; Editing by Sandra Maler)