The US Treasury Department is opening its cybersecurity information exchange to crypto companies to help protect them from attacks as the industry becomes an increasingly important arm of the financial system, according to a statement on Thursday.
Eligible crypto businesses and organizations (a status not yet clearly defined in the announcement) can sign up for the same service enjoyed by traditional financial institutions. The Treasury’s Office of Cybersecurity and Critical Infrastructure Protection will include them in “timely and actionable cybersecurity information” and encouraged interested companies 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 issued 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 that traditional financial institutions use, Treasury is helping to promote a more secure and responsible digital asset ecosystem,” Luke Pettit, undersecretary for financial institutions, said in a statement.
The digital asset sector has been plagued by malicious attacks since its inception. Barely a month goes by without a noteworthy cyberattack that drains important 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 implement 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 points of concern for US lawmakers weighing legislation that would bring the crypto sector into the regulated financial system.
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