Towards Better Understanding of Cyber Security Information Sharing

There is an increased recognition of the importance of information sharing within cyber security. Nevertheless, and despite the widespread use of the term “information sharing”, it is difficult to associate a precise meaning with it - not least because it is used to describe a range of different activities that are driven by a variety of goals. Furthermore, when it comes to distinguishing between the various forms of information-sharing efforts, there is evidence of a degree of inconsistency between stakeholders. In this paper we seek to understand the various definitions of cyber security information sharing; we also seek to develop a better categorisation of its different forms. In addition, we try to assess the extent to which practitioners are willing to engage in each of the derived categories. A literature review, combined with an online survey, were used to capture stakeholders' perspectives. We analyse the data with a view to establishing a more nuanced conceptualisation of information sharing. The hope is that our findings will have the potential to serve as a basis for future studies.