The U.S. Department of the Treasury is opening up cybersecurity information sharing to crypto companies to help them ward off attacks as the industry becomes an increasingly important arm of the financial system, according to a statement released Thursday.
Eligible crypto businesses and organizations – a status not yet clearly defined in the announcement – can sign up for the same service that traditional financial institutions benefit from. Treasury’s Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection will include them in “timely and actionable cybersecurity information” and will encourage interested businesses to contact that office if they are interested in the free service.
The move responds to an earlier recommendation from the President’s Task Force on Digital Asset Markets, which released a report last year that included several ideas for sharing information about the dangers of cyberattacks.
“By expanding access to the same high-quality cybersecurity information used by traditional financial institutions, Treasury is helping to promote a safer and more responsible digital asset ecosystem,” Luke Pettit, assistant secretary for financial institutions, said in a statement.
The digital assets industry has been plagued by malicious hacks since its inception. Not a month goes by without a notable cyberattack draining significant funds or data from crypto operations. Hackers linked to North Korea stole more than $280 million from decentralized platform Drift last week. Just this week, recent incidents prompted the Solana Foundation to take new security measures to prevent exploits.
Billions of dollars in assets are stolen every year, often by hacking groups sponsored by countries like North Korea. Digital security remains one of the areas of concern for US lawmakers considering legislation that would integrate the crypto sector into the regulated financial system.
Read more: US DOJ pursues North Korea’s illicit money machine, seizes more cryptocurrencies
