The Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC) will share intelligence with other US organisations responsible for detecting and combating cyber threats, said Lisa Monaco, adviser to president Barack Obama on homeland security and counterterrorism, Reuters reported.
"Currently, no single government entity is responsible for producing coordinated cyber threat assessments," Monaco said, according to the report. "This is filling a critical gap."
Existing responsibilities for identifying and address cyber security threats on the US are shared between organisations including the National Security Agency, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), FBI, and US military.
Monaco said the CTIIC will work with businesses on cyber security protection.
"When companies share information with us about a major cyber intrusion or a potentially debilitating denial of service attack, they can expect us to respond quickly," Monaco said, according to a report by USA Today. "We will provide as much information as we can about the threat to assist companies in protecting their networks and critical information. We will coordinate a quick and unified response from government experts, including at DHS and the FBI. We will look to determine who the actor is and hold them to account."
Last month, Obama outlined plans to draw up new federal legislation that would require US businesses to notify consumers within 30 days of a breach of the security of their personal data.
Industry experts have previously warned that cyber security is a major and growing risk for businesses. Stephen Catlin, head of the largest Lloyds of London insurer Catlin Group, recently said that cyber security was the biggest risk he had seen in his career, that insurance companies cannot properly take it on, and that governments have a role in managing the threat.