WIREDGOV

In early February, the Obama administration held a cybersecurity summit at Stanford University on the subject of Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection, which invited tech industry and policy leaders to discuss strategies to improve best practices in information security standards. The agenda of the summit reflects the renewed commitment of the administration to increase collaboration in promoting secured information sharing between the private sector and the government.

Following the summit on 13 Feb., President Obama unveiled an Executive Order as part of a broader effort to improve US cyber-defense in the wake of several high-profile hacking incidents. The intention of this executive order is to encourage the sharing of cybersecurity threat information between the private sector and the government in order to quickly identify and protect against cyber threats.

The Obama administration has also reiterated the need for greater commitment from the private sector in developing best practices and standards in cybersecurity. In 2014, the administration created the Cybersecurity Framework, which recognized the need for collaboration between the government and private companies in for the common goal of cybersecurity.

The Framework enables businesses to make decisions about how to prioritize its cybersecurity investments, as well as gives businesses a standard for policy implementation and risk management. In February 2015, several corporations announced a commitment to using the Framework