CISA’s AI cybersecurity playbook calls for greater collaboration, but trust is key to successful execution  – CyberScoop

As autonomous agents increasingly enter organizations, nation-state actors are turning to these AI-powered technologies to undermine our national security and critical infrastructures. As a result, today’s security teams need to be able to fight AI with AI, and understand the technology’s implications from both a defensive and offensive perspective. Similarly, our national defenses have to be able to respond to these emerging, AI-enabled threats instantaneously to guarantee resiliency. 

To address the rise in AI cyber threats, earlier this year, the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) operating under DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency published a new AI playbook for reporting and trading details about ongoing security threats targeting AI models. Known as the JCDC AI Cybersecurity Collaboration Playbook, the plan was developed as a direct result of two tabletop exercises held last year across federal, industry, and international partners.

This playbook is an important next step in the right direction and aligns with other key mandates — such as the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2023 — to address pivotal components, such as section 14 on automation and artificial intelligence and section 18 on federal cybersecurity. But as the industry continues to dissect and implement the playbook, it’s important to take a step back to better understand the resource and discuss some necessary additions for future iterations. Let’s explore.

The game plan: Understanding the JCDC AI Cybersecurity Collaboration Playbook

The AI playbook is intended to foster operational collaboration across public and private sector partners, with regular updates to be announced throughout the year as AI continues to evolve and impact the threat landscape. 

But before any updates are made, one must get familiar with and implement some of the best practices within the resource. From my perspective, the most notable elements of the CISA playbook included:

• The comprehensive voluntary information-sharing checklist, which covers everything from initial detection to technical analysis: This checklist helps highlight actionable data to streamline the sharing process among CISA, JCDC, and its partners. This is the first step to getting a better understanding about new, emerging AI threats.
• The establishment of clear coordination mechanisms between federal, private sector, and international partners: Enhanced coordination is critical to foster greater information-sharing and better understanding of a complex cybersecurity issue. Incident response and remediation efforts will be largely enhanced through these newly defined coordination mechanisms between all relevant parties. 
• The practical focus on operational collaboration rather than just policy guidance: While policy guidance is crucial, the true effectiveness of a playbook lies in the collaboration among various stakeholders. By sharing information, identifying threats, and working together to address them, the industry can achieve much more than by relying solely on policy.
• The enhanced coordination activity permitting cross-agency collaboration supporting our national defense: Cross-agency collaboration is fundamental to national security, particularly as the cybersecurity landscape evolves. State, local, tribal, and territorial (SLTT) entities, alongside commercial organizations, often serve as early indicators of emerging threats, frequently encountering sophisticated attacks before they reach federal systems.

Upping the game: Key considerations for the next AI cybersecurity playbook

As the public and private sectors begin implementing some of the guidance within the AI playbook, the next course of action from CISA and JCDC is collecting feedback from participants and implementing changes or additions to the next iteration of the resource. 

An immediate, critical opportunity for enhancement lies in the synchronization and intelligence-sharing protocols between the Department of Homeland Security and its federal partners. While the U.S. Cyber Command and Federal Bureau of Investigation serve as cornerstone partners in our nation’s cyber defense architecture, historical timelines for DHS processing of cyber threat intelligence have presented operational challenges. The current framework for processing cyber threat information from SLTT entities and commercial organizations has traditionally resulted in significant reporting latency to key federal partners, often extending to weeks or months. 

This delay in dissemination to critical federal stakeholders could potentially impact rapid response capabilities and coordinated defensive measures. Streamlining these information-sharing pathways while maintaining appropriate validation and verification protocols represents a vital area for framework optimization.

Victory lies in trust: How to build trust in an AI era

It’s said that AI has ushered in a “trust nothing” era. Now more than ever, Americans need to know that our digital systems are built with security in mind, and this playbook is a testament to that effort.

The foundation of trust in cybersecurity is built upon consistent, reliable processing and dissemination of cyber threat intelligence. Historically, the private sector and federal government have proceeded with measured caution when collaborating with one another. For example, following the 2021 Colonial Pipeline incident, many private companies expressed concerns over sharing incident details with federal agencies, fearing regulatory consequences or data exposure. This fear created resistance to sharing critical information required to combat emerging cyber threats and the actors behind them.

The success of the JCDC AI Cybersecurity Collaboration Playbook lies in trust. While success will not occur overnight, it will require three fundamental pillars rooted in trust: rigorous implementation of statutory protections, clear protocols for handling shared intelligence, and establishment of secure communication channels.

What’s next

We must commend JCDC and CISA for being proactive when it comes to AI and cybersecurity. This playbook continues to serve as a step in the right direction for defenders in both the private and public sectors. But guidance is just that — guidance. The onus is on us, as industry leaders, to implement and execute elements of the playbook, and share feedback to only bolster future iterations over time.

Sam Kinch is an executive client adviser at Tanium. He previously served as director of the Department of Homeland Security’s technical security team and as senior executive to the commander at U.S. Cyber Command.

The post CISA’s AI cybersecurity playbook calls for greater collaboration, but trust is key to successful execution appeared first on CyberScoop.

  –

Read More  – CyberScoop