Scott Nicholas
Jayne Friedland Holland, chief security officer at information services provider NIC, has said fusion centers can help government agencies defend against hacktivism and other cyber crimes through intelligence data sharing.
Holland wrote in a guest post published Wednesday on GCN the intelligence gathering entities share a similar cybersecurity mission with government, law enforcement and private organizations.
She noted that fusion centers are funded through a Department of Homeland Security grant program and built to help state and local agencies monitor suspicious activity and criminal or terrorist trends as well as share threat information with participating companies.
“The information they receive may provide advance warning that gives agencies time to harden their technology infrastructure or physical facilities before an attack occurs,” Holland added.
She recommended that state and local agencies collaborate with other stakeholders, establish an internal information-sharing structure, initiate outreach to the private sector and introduce fusion center personnel to authorities to deepen engagement with fusion centers.
