The Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management's (DHSEM) Information Security Office (ISO), and Anomali, provider of market-leading threat intelligence platforms, today announced that the DHSEM has launched a collaborative project to support local municipalities in combating cyberattacks. The Cook County Cyber Threat Intelligence Grid (CCCTIG) is designed to strengthen the region's cybersecurity through shared intelligence.
All CCCTIG participating municipalities will have access to a secure platform, provided by Anomali, where they can search and share a wealth of cyber threat intelligence on known bad actors, malicious campaigns and security incidents. This tool increases municipalities' capacity to quickly respond to threats while also protecting themselves from future attacks.
"Time is of the essence during a cyberattack. The more quickly we know that an attack is happening, the more quickly we can act to make sure it doesn't spread," said Cook County's Chief Information Security Officer Ricardo Lafosse. "Our goal is to ensure municipalities know about threats immediately and act to protect their digital information and their operations so that the impact to our residents can be mitigated."
The DHSEM began rolling out the platform in October. The Villages of Norridge and Schaumburg and the City of Berwyn are among the first to take advantage of the CCCTIG. Lafosse says his team will continue to roll out the platform throughout the nation's second largest county over the coming months. The grid is available to all of Cook County's 134 municipalities, helping to protect its 5.3 million residents.
"Cybersecurity discussions tend to focus on the latest attacks against businesses and federal government, neglecting to remember that local agencies are often the front line in the fight to protect millions of residents against countless threats," said Hugh Njemanze, CEO of Anomali. "The Cook County DHSEM continues to demonstrate its leadership in combating cyber threats. We are thrilled to partner with this important agency to share our threat intelligence platforms to help Illinois counties collaborate and coordinate on cybersecurity threats and response."
"This partnership with Cook County and many other municipalities gives us a much better ability to rapidly pinpoint cyber threats and work together to neutralize them," said James Frank, director of information technology at the City of Berwyn. "Ultimately, it provides direction toward a higher cybersecurity standard, allowing us to provide city residents and staff the best possible service."
For Cook County DHSEM contact:
Natalia Derevyanny
Natalia.derevyanny@cookcountyil.gov
312.603.8286
For Anomali contact:
Nicole Pitaro
npitaro@bhavacom.com
(630) 532-8879
