Will the New Cyber Security Bill Benefit Analysts?

<p>Recently, the U.S. Senate passed the <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybersecurity_Information_Sharing_Act">Cybersecurity Intelligence Sharing Act (CISA)</a></strong>, which aims to protect companies from hackers. Good news for tech companies, right? Read on to learn more and determine whether this new cyber security bill is good news for data analysts.</p><p><strong>About CISA</strong></p><p>The CISA bill passing is likely to have been influenced by the recent high-level security breaches in the U.S. as of late, which all resulted in the loss of sensitive, and in some cases federal, information. The legislation is set to increase threat intelligence sharing between federal agencies, law enforcement, and enterprises in the U.S., while offering legal protection for private firms handing over sensitive user data to the government.</p><p><strong>Weighing Opinions</strong></p><p>There’s some controversy surrounding the bill, as many organizations, including Apple, Google, Facebook, Twitter, and Yelp, have stated concerns about being forced to hand over sensitive customer data to the government. The big question is: Will this <strong><a href="{page_3457}">enhanced security</a></strong> actually make analysts’ jobs easier?</p><p><strong>What CISA Means For Security Professionals</strong></p><p>CISA is a feat for analysts and IT directors that actually do the cyber defending against adversaries. The main concern about the bill is the sharing of sensitive information, like social security numbers, <strong><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personally_identifiable_information">PII</a></strong>, and medical records – but organizations performing cyber defense are not worried about this type of information; they actually need network traffic details like IP addresses and email addresses.</p><p>So, CISA is a good thing for data analysts because it helps with the blocking and tackling of threats as well as liability protection. It also enhances automated threat intelligence analytics. This information sharing approach is perfect for security professionals using a <strong><a href="https://www.anomali.com/products/threatstream">threat intelligence platform </a></strong>because they can aggregate data from a central location, apply scores, and share. When this is automated, you can share with a larger audience across industries, which then shortens the window for an attacker.</p><p><strong>Key Takeaways for Analysts</strong></p><p>With more and more breaches against large entertainment, retail, and healthcare corporations, it is clear that internally-focused defenses alone are not sufficient. The ability of these defenses needs to be expanded and enhanced to detect and act on threats that can potentially target your business and infrastructure. You need the threat intelligence advantage – the ability to identify the adversary, a threat actor, a campaign, or a cyber attack. CISA addresses this need!</p><p>Want more insights on threat intelligence? Check out this <strong><a href="{page_3458}">fresh approach</a></strong>!</p>