Cyber threat actors don’t operate alone. They collaborate across borders and networks, sharing tools, infrastructure, and tactics to scale attacks at speed. A single vulnerability anywhere in the ecosystem can quickly become a widespread incident.
At the same time, many organizations still struggle to implement consistent cybersecurity safeguards. Talent shortages, fragmented tools, and complex environments make it difficult to stay ahead. Most breaches continue to exploit the basics: misconfigurations, weak credentials, unpatched systems, and the human element. This creates isolated cyber defenses that can’t keep pace with modern threats.
Collective Cyber Defense offers a way forward for us all. It brings together people, intelligence, tools, and best practices for strengthening the entire ecosystem. By uniting organizations across sectors — public, private, nonprofit, education, and critical infrastructure — communities can defend better than any single organization alone.
At the Center for Internet Security® (CIS®), we facilitate this approach by transforming community expertise into operational cybersecurity.
Powered by Community. Facilitated by CIS.
Collective Cyber Defense works because it turns individual expertise into shared protection, bringing together the entire ecosystem. Any organization can gain value from the shared intelligence, common safeguards, and coordinated response inherent in this approach.
Together, we can break down barriers and connect defenders through four pillars that make Collective Cyber Defense possible.
Pillar 1: Shared Knowledge & Intelligence
With transparent communication and cross‑sector collaboration, we can help organizations detect threats faster and respond with greater confidence. Communities that openly exchange threat intelligence, including information about attack patterns and emerging risks, can learn from one another’s experiences, strengthening early warning and situational awareness.
Community-driven cybersecurity begins with exchanging situational awareness. This pillar includes:
- Shared Threat Intelligence: Faster detection through shared indicators of compromise (IOCs), attack pattern analysis, and insights into emerging threats.
- Transparent Communication Channels: Open, timely information flowing across teams, sectors, and partners.
- Cross-Sector Collaboration: Ongoing coordination across government, commercial, nonprofits, and infrastructure providers.
Pillar 2: Common Safeguards and Consistent Implementation
A shared foundation keeps teams focused on the controls that matter most. Using proven security baselines, like the CIS Critical Security Controls® (CIS Controls®) and CIS Benchmarks®, reduces weak points across systems and environments on which adversaries rely. Shared tools, automation, training, and future‑focused planning ensure organizations can implement these best practices at scale.
Communities benefit when they align on what foundational security looks like and how to operationalize it. This pillar includes:
- Security Best Practices: Adoption of proven baselines like the CIS Controls reduces variability and closes common attack paths.
- Shared Tools, Resources, Automation: Free, cost-effective, and/or open source tools help resource‑constrained organizations implement security measures consistently.
- Education and Continuous Learning: Training, exercises, and updates help empower organizations to maintain and improve their baselines.
- Anticipatory Thinking: Proactive risk management keeps the community aligned on the potential impact of emerging trends, including AI misuse, supply chain attacks, and geopolitical conflict.
Pillar 3: Collaborative Defense and Problem‑Solving
Communities excel when they work together to understand vulnerabilities, coordinate mitigations, and take collective action. This mindset narrows the gap between knowing about a threat and acting on it. Coordination helps contain incidents and minimize impact. With a community-driven approach to cyber defense, knowledge becomes operational defense, and everyone becomes safer.
Collective Cyber Defense thrives when communities work together to interpret challenges and build solutions. This pillar includes:
- Collective Problem-Solving: Communities reduce duplicated work by tackling vulnerabilities and mitigations together.
- Cooperative Defense Mindset: Organizations take responsibility not just for themselves but for the broader ecosystem. Each organization participating makes other organizations safer.
- Diverse Expertise and Perspectives: Practitioners, policymakers, vendors, researchers, and volunteers provide richer insights.
Pillar 4: Trust, Support, and Capacity-Building
Mentorship, governance, and shared responsibility help raise the security baseline for everyone. When organizations trust one another and have access to expert support, they’re more willing to share insights and ask for help.
Community defense requires a foundation of trust and the ability to help others level up. This pillar includes:
- Mentorship and Knowledge Transfer: Experienced members help smaller or understaffed organizations adopt trusted safeguards developed through shared expertise.
- Trust Building and Governance: Strong governance frameworks increase organizations' willingness to securely share challenges and lessons learned with the greater community.
Strengthening Cyber Resilience Together
Collective Cyber Defense brings together organizations, experts, and communities to stay ahead of evolving threats. CIS plays a central role by providing the professional infrastructure for organizations and experts to come together and distill individual insights into measurable defense, which we share as actionable recommendations that strengthen resilience across industries and critical infrastructure sectors.
Through this approach, CIS empowers organizations to quickly and confidently prioritize threats, adopt consistent baselines, share intelligence, and work together to build a safer and more resilient connected world.
A Safer, More Resilient Ecosystem Built Together
Cyber threat actors collaborate. Defenders must, too.
By facilitating the transformation of community expertise into practical, validated cybersecurity guidance and tools, CIS helps organizations build stronger baselines, detect threats faster, and respond with confidence.
Such an approach to collective cyber defense is essential for securing the connected world.