US launching a new cyberwarfare agency in wake of Sony attacks
We already have the NSA, FBI, DHS and NCTC, but the White House feels that we're still an acronym short on the cyber warfare front. That's why, later today, the president's counterterrorism chief will announce the Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center -- a new department designed to protect America from digital aggressors. With the Sony Pictures and JPMorgan hacks in mind, President Obama pledged to beef up America's digital security in his most recent state of the union address, and the CTIIC is part of that.
After 9/11, researchers believed that if the security services' shared data between them, the attacks could possibly have been prevented. According to the Washington Post, that's why the new CTIIC will sit between these agencies, pooling their cyber warfare data in a single place. That way, the next time an attack is mounted, those who need to make decisions will have a full picture in their minds.
The paper goes on to report that, in the aftermath of the Sony hack, the FBI, NSA and CIA all drew separate conclusions rather than providing a single, cohesive response. It was, apparently, the final straw which prompted the formation of this new agency to create unified analysis. The CTIIC will launch with a staff of around 50 and a budget of around $35 million a year, and will resist the urge to conduct any surveillance work itself. Quick, someone tell CBS that there's a new government department that's ripe for a crime-based procedural drama... oh.
