Greg Shaffer, assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at DHS, said this new approach will be an opportunity to look at data across government and industry, with the end goal being to reduce risk.

A second pilot program will focus on letting cleared personnel from companies view secret or classified threat data at state fusion centers. The objective is to create a forum for DHS to discuss critical infrastructure sectors and levels of government information related to threats, including vulnerability identification, threat analysis and consequence information.

A third pilot is a proof of concept using Einstein 1 software on the Michigan state government’s networks. According to Shaffer, the Einstein 2 intrusion protection and detection software has been installed on 12 of 21 agencies that will run their own Internet gateways under the Trusted Internet Connections initiative. He also said DHS has begun testing Einstein 3 technologies, but did not reveal when Einstein 3 would start being used.