The effort between the government and private companies to share information related to cyber security remains far less than optimal, according to a report by the Government Accountability Office. If things don't improve, GAO warns, companies that own critical infrastructure may not have the necessary information to ward off "cyber attacks that could have catastrophic effects."

The report, titled "CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION: Key Private and Public Cyber Expectations Need to Be Consistently Addressed," was based on surveys and interviews with officials in the public and private sectors. Fewer than a third of the private sector stakeholders in the report said they were getting alerts and other information from the government "to a great or moderate extent." Some federal partners have restricted the kind of information they are willing to share.

Meanwhile, according to government officials, some of the private sector stakeholders are reluctant to share proprietary data lest it could lead to lost market share, the GAO reports.

For more:
- see GAO's Critical Infrastructure Protection report (.pdf)

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