Tensions in Collaborative Cyber Security and how They Affect Incident Detection and Response

Abstract

Security often requires collaboration, but when multiple stakeholders are involved, it is typical for their priorities to differ or even conflict with one another. In today’s increasingly networked world, cyber security collaborations may span organizations and countries. In this chapter, the authors address collaboration tensions, their effects on incident detection and response, and how these tensions may potentially be resolved. The authors present three case studies of collaborative cyber security within the U.S. government and discuss technical, social, and regulatory challenges to collaborative cyber security. They suggest possible solutions and present lessons learned from conflicts. Finally, the authors compare collaborative solutions from other domains and apply them to cyber security collaboration. Although they concentrate their analysis on collaborations whose purpose is to achieve cyber security, the authors believe this work applies readily to security tensions found in collaborations of a general nature as well.