DHS Revives Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity Council
The Department of Homeland Security is bringing back a key cybersecurity information sharing effort with critical infrastructure, more than a year after the Trump administration shuttered an existing nerve center between government and private sector.
The Alliance of National Councils for Homeland Operational Resilience – Critical Infrastructure program, also known as ANCHOR-CI, is meant to replace the function of the Critical Infrastructure Partnership Advisory Council (CIPAC). CIPAC was a federal advisory body that allowed agencies like the FBI, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), and the intelligence community to interact with key owners and operators of water, power, internet, and telecommunications to coordinate on cyberattacks and digital vulnerabilities.
ANCHOR-CI Structure and Purpose
ANCHOR-CI will provide forums through which cybersecurity, law enforcement, intelligence, national security, and other government representatives at the federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial levels may engage representatives of private sector entities and critical infrastructure owners and operators in reviewing the current threat environment, discussing potential vulnerabilities, and forming recommendations on securing a more resilient critical infrastructure and cyberspace.
ANCHOR-CI will be managed by CISA, which will appoint members to the council from industry, trade associations, state and local governments, and other sources. The body will consist of four types of different councils: one focused on federally designated critical infrastructure sectors, cross-sector councils to deal with emerging threats like cyber attacks or zero-day vulnerabilities, critical infrastructure industry councils, and regional coordinating councils.
Key Differences from CIPAC
A key difference between CIPAC and ANCHOR-CI will be the way key meetings will be exempt from public transparency laws. According to a federal register notice, the Secretary of Homeland Security has exempted ANCHOR-CI from the Federal Advisory Committee Act, citing the sensitive nature of the subject matter involved.
The disbanding of CIPAC under then-Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem was part of a larger dismantling of DHS advisory bodies set up under previous presidential regimes. Critical infrastructure owners and operators felt blindsided by the move and many found themselves without access to the kind of federally-enabled threat intelligence and cybersecurity support that had become a staple of U.S. cyber defense over the past decade.
Reaction and Impact
Representative Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, called ANCHOR "a welcome step" toward strengthening operational partnerships between industry and CISA at a time when China and other adversaries are using AI and other tools to target U.S. critical infrastructure.
According to a former CISA official, ANCHOR-CI gives the CISA director more authority over the makeup and direction of the organization than under CIPAC. Bob Kolasky, who ran the National Risk Management Agency at CISA, said the new organizational structure for ANCHOR "really puts CISA in the position of having authority over who participates," a change from CIPAC, when the private sector and other sector risk management agencies were given autonomy to choose their representatives.
Kolasky said some unanswered questions remain, including how the CISA director would choose representatives and what role other sector risk management agencies would play influencing ANCHOR. He emphasized the importance of consistent processes to ensure membership isn't dependent on being in the good graces of a particular agency or administration.
"I want it to be a partnership structure between industry and government and not something that is completely operated and mandated by the government," said Kolasky.
Source: CyberScoop