R-CISC, The Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center, Signs Strategic Agreement With FS-ISAC To Leverage Services & Technologies For Growth

PRESS RELEASE

Reston, VA – MAY 11, 2015 – FS-ISAC, The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, today announced a strategic agreement with the Retail Cyber Information Sharing Center, R-CISC. Through the agreement, FS-ISAC will provide key advisory services and best practices, operational support and technology capabilities to help R-CISC prepare for significant growth and deliver on its core mission to provide threat information sharing and cyber security for retailers.

“In less than a year, R-CISC has made significant advances in its information sharing mission and now we’re launching the next phase of maturity and growth,” says Brian Engle, R-CISC Executive Director. “Partnering with FS-ISAC is a surefire way to help accelerate new tools and offerings to retailers.  With this collaboration also comes a greater opportunity for both intra-sector and sector-to-sector sharing.”

Specifically, FS-ISAC will enable R-CISC to provide the following capabilities and solutions:

--Strategic guidance and best practices provided by FS-ISAC will help R-CISC achieve its sharing mission and membership growth goals.

--In conjunction with its portal provider NC4, FS-ISAC will establish and manage a segregated portal for R-CISC members.  While FS-ISAC and R-CISC information will not be co-mingled, some appropriate, non-attributed threat indicators may be shared in support of sector-to-sector sharing.

--Dedicated Security Operations Center staff will monitor a network of sources to collect, analyze and disseminate information to retailers.

--Operational support provided by FS-ISAC will remove operational task burdens and enable R-CISC to focus on developing new sharing and educational offerings.

With this agreement, R-CISC will also offer Soltra EdgeTM, an automated threat indicator sharing solution developed by SoltraTM, the joint venture between FS-ISAC and The Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC). Soltra Edge turns hours of manual cyber threat processing into seconds of instant analysis and action. The solution leverages open standards, including Structured Threat Information eXpression (STIX™), a uniform format for the threat information, and Trusted Automated eXchange of Indicator Information (TAXII™), an open standards protocol for routing threat information.

“The R-CISC has worked diligently to establish cyber intelligence sharing in the retail sector. The new agreement with FS-ISAC will help R-CISC focus on its core mission and take information sharing to the next level,” states Cindy Donaldson, Vice President, Products and Services at FS-ISAC. “With the new portal, security operations capabilities and FS-ISAC support services, R-CISC will greatly enhance its cybersecurity capabilities within the community, while optimizing the use of intelligence from key partners, government agencies, and law enforcement worldwide.”

About the R-CISC

The Retail Cyber Intelligence Sharing Center is the cybersecurity resource for the retail industry. The R-CISC is a non-profit corporation promoting cybersecurity and data privacy through all appropriate means. Developed with the input of more than 50 retailers, the R-CISC consists of three components:

1) The Center’s Retail Information Sharing and Analysis Center (ISAC) has opened a steady flow of information sharing between retailers, law enforcement and other relevant stakeholders. These efforts already have helped retailers establish trusted sharing relationships, have prevented data breaches, protected millions of American customers and saved millions of dollars

2) The Education & Training arm works with retailers and partners to develop and provide both education and training to empower information security professionals in retail and related industries.

3) The Research arm looks to the future, undertaking research and development projects in partnership with academia, thought leaders, and subject matter experts in order to better understand threats on the horizon.

Visit www.r-cisc.org for additional information

About FS-ISAC

The Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, formed in 1999, is a member-owned non-profit and private financial sector initiative. With over 5500 members world-wide today, FS-ISAC was designed and developed by its member institutions. Its primary function is to share timely, relevant and actionable physical and cyber security threat and incident information to enhance the ability of the financial services sector to prepare for, respond to, and mitigate the risk associated with these threats. Constantly gathering reliable and timely information between its members, and from financial services providers, commercial security firms, government agencies, law enforcement and other trusted resources, the FS-ISAC is uniquely positioned to quickly disseminate physical and cyber threat alerts and other critical information. This information includes analysis and recommended solutions from leading industry experts. Please visit our website (www.fsisac.com) for additional information.