FAQs // World Wide Information Sharing and Analysis Center

The Information Sharing and Analysis Centers (ISACs) were created as a result of Presidential Decision Directive 63 (PDD-63) in 1998. The directive requested the public and private sector create a partnership to share information about physical and cyber threats, vulnerabilities, and events to help protect the critical infrastructure of the United States. PDD-63 was updated in 2003 with Homeland Security Presidential Directive/HSPD-7 to reaffirm the partnership mission. Today there are ISACs for fourteen critical infrastructures, such as Financial Services, Electric, Energy and Surface Transportation.

The World Wide ISAC (WW-ISAC) comprises a secure database, analytic tools, and information gathering and distribution facilities designed to allow authorized participants to submit either anonymous or attributed reports about information security threats, vulnerabilities, incidents and solutions. Input is analyzed by security specialists and, depending on the seriousness of the case, the WW-ISAC will distribute an alert to members. WW-ISAC members also have access to information and analysis relating to information provided by other members and obtained from other sources, such as law enforcement agencies, technology providers and security associations.

Members may create a profile on the WW-ISAC website to identify specific areas of interest or receive all alerts. For both physical and cyber events, alerts contain a description of the threat or vulnerability, its severity, and recommendations for solutions.

Membership is important if you are concerned about protecting your organization from todays emerging physical- and cyber-security threats and vulnerabilities. Since 9/11, protecting the critical infrastructure of the United States has become a priority for our country. Each firm in every industry sector has the responsibility for doing its part. Becoming a member of the WW-ISAC is the best way to protect your organization while supporting Homeland Security initiatives.

Early Notification of Threats

Relevant Information on Solutions

Industry-wide Vigilance

Access to Subject Matter Expertise

Anonymous Information Sharing

Trending, Metrics, Benchmark Data

The WW-ISAC incident data is "owned" by WW-ISAC. The WW-ISAC technology and other related support data are owned by VeriSign, Inc. VeriSign, Inc. operates intelligent infrastructure services that enable and protect billions of interactions every day across the world's voice and data networks. Additional news and information about the company is available at www.verisign.com.

The location or locations of the WW-ISAC are secret. The WW-ISAC is physically secured and the facility is operated remotely. The various components of the WW-ISAC system are protected through state-of-the-art security techniques, including constant monitoring for unauthorized attempts to access or alter the system.

How many incidents, threats, vulnerabilities and solutions are currently in the WW-ISAC database?

Information in the database comes from WW-ISAC members, U.S. government agencies, hardware and software vendors, and other sources. While the exact number of incidents submitted is confidential, there have been more than 2,000 entries related to general threats, vulnerabilities and solutions impacting the critical information infrastructure at large.

The WW-ISAC data will be used to share incident information among members in near-time. The data will also be used to develop trending and benchmarking information for the benefit of the members.

No, it would not prevent a virus or deliberate hacker attack from happening. It would, however, give members an alert or early warning notice and offer known patches or solution recommendations. It would enable members to respond quickly to avoid or limit potential damage.

Without early warning from the WW-ISAC, your organization would be unable to avoid the expense and/or loss of reputation of an unexpected incident or attack. You would not have access to the near-time database or expert analysis that is available to members.

A membership application can be downloaded from the Join page. In addition, "JOIN WW-ISAC" buttons are located throughout this site. For more information or to speak to a membership specialist, call the WW-ISAC Membership Hotline at (888) 660-0134.