Councils

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Council service is open to INSA members in good standing. Simply complete this brief form & our membership team will contact you with next steps. 

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Where Expertise Meets Action.

INSA’s policy councils and subcommittees bring together professionals from government, industry, and academia to address the intelligence and national security community’s most pressing challenges. Councils do not just talk about issues; they help shape them.

As a member, councils offer:

  • Opportunities to shape policies that strengthen the IC's effectiveness and efficiency 
  • Thought leadership through white papers, op-eds, podcasts, and panel discussions
  • Collaboration with peers and government partners in trusted, solution-focused forums
  • Access to government and academic leaders who share challenges, priorities, and opportunities for collaboration

Get Involved!

Council service ensures that INSA members play an active part in advancing policy ideas and solutions that support the U.S. intelligence and national security mission.


Thought Leadership

White Papers & Op-Eds

Industry Contributions to Offensive Cyber Operations

Mar 23, 2023, 14:14 by Peggy O'Connor
Industry Contributions to U.S. Government Offensive Cyber Operations outlines the importance of public/private collaboration in cybersecurity, particularly with respect to how commercial sector expertise can support U.S. government operations.

March 28, 2023 (ARLINGTON, VA)—The Intelligence and National Security Alliance today released a new Intelligence Insights paper, Industry Contributions to U.S. Government Offensive Cyber Operations, that outlines the importance of public/private collaboration in cybersecurity, particularly with respect to how the commercial sector can support U.S. government operations.

Developed by INSA's Cyber Council, the paper finds that the private sector is often subject to the same cyber exploitations as government agencies, and as such, they hold the expertise and technical background to preempt and orchestrate offensive retaliatory measures to cyber threat actors. This type of collaboration can be seen most demonstrably in Ukraine’s response to Russian offensive cyber operations at the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022. The commercial sector’s role in keeping critical civilian infrastructure resilient against cyber operations from the Kremlin proved to be a bellwether of Ukraine’s durability throughout the war.

This type of collaboration, the paper argues, should be the blueprint for strengthening U.S. critical infrastructure. The paper outlines five key recommendations for accomplishing this goal.

  1. Establishing a Cyber National Guard, to defend targets at the federal, state, and local levels.
  2. Creating a DOD National Digital Reserve Corps as proposed by legislation in the House of Representatives
  3. Developing a Corporate Cyber Reserve to allow the private sector to contribute cyber capabilities to government entities.
  4. Formulating a private sector advisory committee to U.S. Cyber Command
  5. Organizing a whole-of-nation “Cyber Manhattan Project” designed to harness the expertise of not just the commercial and technology sectors but academia and human capital, as well.

In closing, the paper finds industry support will be essential to defending critical infrastructure and would serve a vital national security interest in this ever-changing threat landscape.

Download a copy of the report.

Media Coverage

National security group INSA describes potential industry role in support of offensive cyber operations
InsiderCyberSecurity.com

INSA Publishes Recommendations for Government-Industry Collaboration on Cyber Defense
ExecutiveGov.com

INSA Calls for Public Private Partnerships to Protect CI
Meritalk 

Podcasts

Industry Contributions to Offensive Cyber Operations

Mar 23, 2023, 14:14 by Peggy O'Connor
Industry Contributions to U.S. Government Offensive Cyber Operations outlines the importance of public/private collaboration in cybersecurity, particularly with respect to how commercial sector expertise can support U.S. government operations.

March 28, 2023 (ARLINGTON, VA)—The Intelligence and National Security Alliance today released a new Intelligence Insights paper, Industry Contributions to U.S. Government Offensive Cyber Operations, that outlines the importance of public/private collaboration in cybersecurity, particularly with respect to how the commercial sector can support U.S. government operations.

Developed by INSA's Cyber Council, the paper finds that the private sector is often subject to the same cyber exploitations as government agencies, and as such, they hold the expertise and technical background to preempt and orchestrate offensive retaliatory measures to cyber threat actors. This type of collaboration can be seen most demonstrably in Ukraine’s response to Russian offensive cyber operations at the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2022. The commercial sector’s role in keeping critical civilian infrastructure resilient against cyber operations from the Kremlin proved to be a bellwether of Ukraine’s durability throughout the war.

This type of collaboration, the paper argues, should be the blueprint for strengthening U.S. critical infrastructure. The paper outlines five key recommendations for accomplishing this goal.

  1. Establishing a Cyber National Guard, to defend targets at the federal, state, and local levels.
  2. Creating a DOD National Digital Reserve Corps as proposed by legislation in the House of Representatives
  3. Developing a Corporate Cyber Reserve to allow the private sector to contribute cyber capabilities to government entities.
  4. Formulating a private sector advisory committee to U.S. Cyber Command
  5. Organizing a whole-of-nation “Cyber Manhattan Project” designed to harness the expertise of not just the commercial and technology sectors but academia and human capital, as well.

In closing, the paper finds industry support will be essential to defending critical infrastructure and would serve a vital national security interest in this ever-changing threat landscape.

Download a copy of the report.

Media Coverage

National security group INSA describes potential industry role in support of offensive cyber operations
InsiderCyberSecurity.com

INSA Publishes Recommendations for Government-Industry Collaboration on Cyber Defense
ExecutiveGov.com

INSA Calls for Public Private Partnerships to Protect CI
Meritalk