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Sectoral cooperation (ISAC)

You want to start collaborating in your sector to increase the resilience of your own organisation and the sector as a whole. You could do this by starting an Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (ISAC).

What is an ISAC?

An ISAC is a sectoral consultative collaboration on cybersecurity. In an ISAC you create a trusted environment with organisations from the same sector in order to share sensitive and confidential information on incidents, threats, vulnerabilities, measures and lessons learned in relation to cybersecurity.

Organisations cooperating in an ISAC aspire towards the same goal: to increase the digital resilience of organisations in a sector. An ISAC also provides you with a network of specialists in your sector with whom you can quickly consult in case of an IT incident with consequences stretching further than a single business.

Why would you start an ISAC?

By sharing knowledge and experiences in your sector you will exchange information and expertise, which enables you to (quicker) recognition of attacks and the response will be rapid and adequate. Besides that, your organisation will decrease costs in the long run by learning from others and by exchanging knowledge on measures that do or do not work. To establish a trusted relationship within an ISAC takes time but it is worth its investment.

Guide to start an ISAC

To help you get started with increasing the digital resilience of your sector, the NCSC has created this guide together with its partners from already established ISACs. Herein three stages are presented to help you create a successful cooperation and to consolidate it.

Enlarge image Stage 1: Explore Seek like-minded people and create support: - Start out small, together with enthusiastic (chief) information security officers. - Set up an informal working group and get to know each other better. - Look for common goals and other similarities during the first meeting. Stage 2: Build Build a solid foundation: - Organise a kick-off meeting to formally start the ISAC. - Jointly select a chair, vice-chair and secretary from those present. - Reach agreement on how often meetings will take place and in what way you will communicate with each other. - Set up guidelines for a membership and information sharing. Stage 3: Continue Keep working on building trust: - Be critical of your own participation in the ISAC. - Make room to evaluate. - Continue to focus on the added value of information exchange.

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