The National Strategy for Information Sharing and Safeguarding (NSISS)

The NSISS, dated December 2012, identifies as one of 16 national priorities the need to establish “information-sharing processes and sector-specific protocols with private sector partners, to improve information quality and timeliness and secure the Nation’s infrastructure.”

This National Strategy for Information Sharing and Safeguarding (Strategy) aims to strike the proper balance between sharing information with those who need it to keep our country safe and safeguarding it from those who would do us harm. While these two priorities—sharing and safeguarding—are often seen as mutually exclusive, in reality they are mutually reinforcing. This Strategy, therefore, emphasizes how strengthening the protection of classified and sensitive information can help to build confidence and trust so that such information can be shared with authorized users.

The 2012 National Strategy for Information Sharing and Safeguarding provides guidance for effective development, integration and implementation of policies, processes, standards and technologies to promote secure and responsible information sharing. The response to these challenges must be strategic and grounded in three core principles.
  • First, in treating Information as a National Asset, we recognize departments and agencies have achieved an unprecedented ability to gather, store and use information consistent with their missions and applicable legal authorities; correspondingly they have an obligation to make that information available to support national security missions.
  • Second, our approach recognizes Information Sharing and Safeguarding Requires Shared Risk Management. In order to build and sustain the trust required to share with one another, we must work together to identify and collectively reduce risk, rather than avoiding information loss by not sharing at all.
  • Third, the core premise Information Informs Decisionmaking underlies all our actions and reminds us better decisionmaking is the purpose of sharing information in the first place.