Tech companies leery of sharing cyberthreats with feds

US tech companies still don't trust the federal government enough to share information about cyberthreats, the top cybersecurity official at the Department of Homeland Security said. "My top priority is building that trust," said Phyllis Schneck, the department's deputy under secretary for cybersecurity and communications for the National Protection and Programs Directorate. Privacy concerns have grown in the wake of the 2013 revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden that the agency was collecting phone and other data on millions of Americans not suspected of any crime, often with the help of tech companies.

The tech industry is now seeking to convince customers that their personal data will be protected from government surveillance as well as from hackers. But companies have yet to overcome the backlash they faced for complying with government orders to turn over e-mails, photos and other data. It's very hard for companies to be optically aligned with the US government," Schneck said."But there has never been a more important time to build that trust." Companies will become more trusting when the federal government can begin "showing value" to them by providing effective information to battle cyber criminals while still protecting Americans' privacy and civil liberties, Schneck said.