A group of cybersecurity specialists and network defenders are launching an open source early warning system focused on threats to operational technology systems.
The Emerging Threat Open Sharing, or ETHOS, platform will provide a vendor-agnostic option for sharing early threat information and intelligence across industries with the goal of more effective government communication, the group said Monday.
The open-source structure will allow any security vendor, organization or individual to contribute to the platform.
“The scale of threats facing critical infrastructure operators, and in particular operational technology networks, requires an approach to information sharing grounded in collaboration and interoperability,” Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said as part of the launch. “CISA is eager to continue support for community drive efforts to reduce silos that impede timely and effective information sharing.”
ETHOS will share and correlate indicator-of-compromise style information, including hashes, IP addresses and domains in real time, according to ETHOS officials.
The founding members include 1898 & Co., ABS Group, Claroty, Dragos, Forescout, NetRise, Network Perception, Nozomi Networks, Schneider Electric, Tenable and Waterfall Security.
The platform is open to any security vendor or organization contributing as a client or hosting their own server in order to compare shared threat information. General membership will open in June.
ETHOS is operating as a nonprofit entity run by an independent mutual benefit corporation and will have additional resources available on Github.
The launch comes at a time when cyber physical systems are facing more frequent and sophisticated attacks. Members of the security community have been looking for additional information about how to protect their networks.
“As the community grows and attracts more participants, ETHOS has the potential to make a big difference in taking down silos of knowledge for the greater good of the entire community,” Katell Thielemann, VP analyst at Gartner, said via email.
