Report Urges Government and Private Firms Collaborate to Prevent Being Caught “Flat-Footed” during a Major Cyber Attack

A new report issued by the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) urges private companies and the U.S. government to work more closely together to help mitigate the impacts of a major cyber attack. The report is based on findings from a tabletop exercise the FDD hosted in October that featured a scenario in which several critical functions, including the U.S. power grid, were attacked at once. “The most important finding from the discussion is that unless government and private sector decision makers begin developing [cyber-enabled economic warfare] specific procedures and trust now, the United States will find itself flat-footed during a major cyber event,” the report states. Among other issues, the attendees spoke both about how the over classification of information by the government and a hesitance to share information by the private sector has hampered information sharing efforts. Attendees of the event included current and former executives from the U.S. private sector, including a retired CEO of a major electric utility holding company, and former senior federal and state government officials, such as a retired director of the CIA and NSA. Read the report at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.