Cyber Threat Alliance now a not-for-profit entity, appoints first president

• Fortinet, industry leaders collaborate on automated threat intelligence sharing platform
• Former White House cybersecurity leader joins CTA to drive alliance mission

THE Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) on Feb 22 announced its formal incorporation as a not-for-profit entity and the appointment of Michael Daniel as the organisation’s first president.

Fortinet, a leader in high-performance cybersecurity solutions, together with three founding (Fortinet, Intel Security, Palo Alto Networks and Symantec) and two new members (Check Point Software Technologies Ltd and Cisco), have contributed to the development of a new, automated threat intelligence sharing platform to exchange actionable threat data, further driving the CTA’s mission of a coordinated effort against cyber adversaries.

“As a founding member of the Cyber Threat Alliance, we strongly believe in this next level of commitment to help deliver automated, comprehensive threat intelligence to our global customers and all organisations,” said Fortinet founder, chairman of the board and CEO Ken Xie.

“The CTA becoming a standalone organisation signifies that the cybersecurity industry holds a collective responsibility to work together to prevent advanced, global cyber-attacks by sharing meaningful threat findings. The best way to combat the negative impact of cybercriminals and best protect our customers is through cooperation and partnership based on actionable intelligence from diverse sources.”

CTA formalises as an independent not-for-profit entity

Founded and actively sharing threat intelligence since 2014, the CTA has evolved to an independent organisation with Daniel as its president and a Board of Directors. Daniel was formerly Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator for the White House.

Daniel brings extensive expertise to the CTA in developing strategic cyber partnerships and programmes that span the private and public sector, as well as other nations to build the most effective security solutions.

The CTA’s move to an incorporated entity signifies the commitment by industry leaders to work together to determine the most effective methods for sharing automated, rich threat data and to make united progress in the fight against sophisticated cyber-attacks.

Since inception, the CTA has regularly exchanged information on botnets, mobile threats and indicators of compromise (IoCs) related to advanced persistent threats (APTs), and advanced malware samples.

Notable milestones of the CTA’s cooperative efforts cracked the code on CryptoWall version 3, one of the most lucrative ransomware families in the world, totaling more than US$325 million ransomed.

The CTA’s research and findings pushed cybercriminals to develop CryptoWall version 4, which the CTA also uncovered and resulted in a much less successful attack, validating the power of the CTA’s cooperative threat intelligence sharing.

In addition to its core mission of coordinated information sharing, the CTA is also the first industry trade association designed by and exclusively for cybersecurity practitioners. Representing the collective voice of industry leaders, the CTA is committed to help shape industry best practices and continue to ensure that the most effective security is being delivered for individual customers and organisations around the world. 
 
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