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The Genesis of Collective Defense

At certain moments in a career, you get the rare opportunity to look back and say, this work mattered. Not because of an individual accomplishment, but because it contributed to something larger — something that changed how an industry thinks and operates. The Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA) is one of those efforts.

When the CTA was first conceived in 2014, the cybersecurity industry looked very different than how it does today. Threat intelligence was widely viewed as a competitive advantage, tightly guarded and rarely shared beyond company walls. Collaboration between major security vendors — especially direct competitors — was almost unheard of. The prevailing mindset was simple: information was power, and power was proprietary.

Against that backdrop, a bold idea emerged: What if competitors worked together for the collective defense of customers and the broader digital ecosystem? What if sharing high-fidelity threat intelligence could raise the cost for adversaries and make everyone safer? As Mark McLaughlin, then CEO of Palo Alto Networks, famously put it at the time, the importance of the future CTA was clear: “Don’t let this fail.”

With that charge, four industry leaders — Palo Alto Networks, Fortinet, McAfee (Intel Security) and Symantec — came together on a handshake agreement to prove that collaboration at scale was not only possible, but necessary. It was, by any measure, a radical idea. Yet those early conversations laid the foundation for what would become the Cyber Threat Alliance.

The Architecture of Trust: Turning Vision into Reality

Turning that vision into reality required more than shared intent. A small working group representing each founding company was tasked with answering hard questions: what the CTA should be, what it should not be and how it could operate independently while earning trust across the industry. With guidance from experts familiar with the ISAC and ISAO landscape, the group worked through governance models, legal frameworks and operational structures. This involved reading more bylaws and legal documents than anyone ever hoped to encounter, but it was essential work. The CTA needed to be built deliberately, with integrity and clarity of purpose.

As the organization took shape, strong leadership became critical. That need was met when Michael Daniel, fresh from serving as Cybersecurity Coordinator for President Obama, stepped in to lead the CTA. His experience, credibility and ability to navigate both policy and industry realities helped propel the organization forward during its formative years.

Fast forward to 2026. As the CTA marks its ninth anniversary, the mission that sparked its creation remains relevant and urgent. The CTA has grown its influence beyond data sharing.

The CTA stands in a unique position to provide oversight and technical influence as a global leader in cybersecurity policy by representing the member companies in one place. With the expanding membership that spans across the globe, the CTA is now an essential piece of global cybersecurity infrastructure. Adversaries continue to evolve, borders remain irrelevant to cyber threats and no single organization can defend alone. What has changed is our proof point: collaboration works.

Reflecting on Nine Years and the Road Ahead

For those of us who have had the privilege of being involved since the earliest days, it has been remarkable to watch a bold idea turn into a trusted global institution. What began as a handful of competitors agreeing to try something different has grown into an organization that meaningfully influences how the industry shares intelligence, engages on policy and works together to protect customers worldwide.

Being part of that journey — helping shape the foundation, watching it mature and continuing to support its growth — has been one of the most professionally rewarding experiences of my career.

The CTA’s success is not defined solely by years or membership numbers, but by the collective commitment of its members to act in the interest of the broader ecosystem. Every shared indicator, every technical contribution and every policy engagement strengthens not just individual companies, but the security of communities across the globe.

As we look ahead, the call to action is simple: stay engaged, stay committed and continue to collaborate. Whether through sharing intelligence, contributing technical expertise or helping shape global cybersecurity policy, each member plays a role in ensuring the CTA remains a trusted and effective force against today’s most pressing cyber threats.

The work is far from done. Together, we are better positioned than ever to meet what comes next.

Happy 9th Anniversary, CTA!

Additional Resources

Sharing Threat Intelligence Makes Everyone Safer – Michael Sikorski, Palo Alto Networks

More About The Author

Kathi Whitbey is the Lead Principal Program Manager for Unit 42 at Palo Alto Networks, where she has spent more than a decade driving strategic programs and initiatives. She played a pivotal role in the formation and incorporation of the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA), including leading early efforts to design and operationalize the CTA Platform for secure intelligence sharing among member companies.Deeply committed to the mission of Unit 42,

Kathi is a strong advocate for the team’s work and a dedicated mentor to emerging professionals in cybersecurity and risk management. Her career includes leadership roles in software development management and technical training across multiple U.S. government organizations, including the Department of State, where she traveled globally to deliver training on custom software applications. In addition to her professional work, Kathi has served as a volunteer Emergency Medical Technician, including a 12-month deployment supporting the U.S. Navy at Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, Africa. She holds a Master’s degree in Information Systems and brings together technical expertise, operational leadership and a deep commitment to service and collaboration.

(Bloomberg) — Wall Street ended a jittery week on a relatively quiet note, with stock traders digesting the rally of the past two days in the run-up to the Federal Reserve decision and the start of the big-tech earnings season.

While the S&P 500 posted its first back-to-back weekly losses since June, the gauge erased Friday’s drop amid solid consumer sentiment and gains in most megacaps. Nvidia Corp. climbed 1.5% as China told tech firms they can prepare orders for H200 AI chips. Intel Corp. sank 17% on a tepid outlook. Small caps trailed the US equity benchmark after beating it for 14 days.

“Stocks are consolidating,” said Louis Navellier at Navellier & Associates. “The laggards are catching up, and the winners are giving back a little.”

Action was fairly muted in bonds. As inflationary pressures linger amid signs of stabilization in the labor market, the Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady Wednesday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg project reductions only in June and September. The dollar saw its worst week since May.

Markets around the globe were roiled earlier this week by President Donald Trump’s threat to impose tariffs on some European countries over Greenland, before softening his rhetoric as NATO’s chief said a breakthrough was secured. The European Union will suspend retaliatory levies on €93 billion ($109 billion) of US goods for another six months.

“This week’s market action is an important reminder for investors to not allow political headlines out of Washington to affect their portfolio, and to be opportunistic when stocks succumb to headline risk,” said Alexander Guiliano at Resonate Wealth Partners.

The S&P 500 hovered near 6,915. A gauge of megacaps climbed 1%. The Russell 2000 fell 1.8%. The yield on 10-year Treasuries slipped one basis point to 4.23%. The dollar lost 0.7%. The yen jumped the most since August on speculation Japan could intervene to halt its slide.

Oil rallied as traders factored in the possibility of American military action in Iran and a massive winter storm in the US. Gold hit all-time highs. Silver topped $100. Copper rallied above $13,000.

Read: CEOs Leave Davos Warning Europe to Shape Up or Lose to US, China

Despite operating in the shadow of political storm clouds in recent weeks, the US stock market is still relatively close to a record, noted Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley’s Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy Team.

“If those clouds can part, positive sentiment about some of this year’s dominant themes may get a chance to re-emerge,” he added.

US stocks suffered nearly $17 billion in outflows in the week ended Jan. 21, according to a Bank of America Corp. note, citing EPFR Global data. After briefly erasing its January gain, the S&P 500 reclaimed its year-to-date advance ahead of high-stakes results from several tech giants.

“Many of the ‘Magnificent Seven’ names have actually underperformed the S&P 500 over the past 12 months, so these next few earnings reports can be an important catalyst,” said Guiliano at Resonate Wealth Partners.

There were doubters, all across Wall Street by some accounts, that Tuesday’s stock rout would be short-lived, a pullback not sharp enough to dissuade Trump from waging a trade war with Europe for control of Greenland.

Yet individual investors plowed $4 billion into US equities as the S&P 500 suffered its biggest drawdown in three months, according to data from JPMorgan Chase & Co. Another $2.3 billion flowed in on Wednesday, just in time for Trump to unleash a rally by standing down from his tariff bluster.

“Investors remain conditioned to buy every dip — retail money rushed in during this week’s selloff, reinforcing a pattern that’s been in place since 2020,” said Mark Hackett at Nationwide. “That combination of broadening leadership and deeply ingrained buy-the-dip behavior continues to tilt the odds in favor of the bulls.”

Stress-driven selloffs are becoming increasingly short-lived, and the latest one was not echoed in other technical indicators such as credit spreads, the put/call ratio, or financial conditions, Hackett noted.

“Following the strong run to record highs, it is not unusual or unhealthy to see a period of consolidation,” he said.

Hackett also added that the pattern in seven of the past eight quarters is that equity markets rally into earnings season but are met with volatility and market sluggishness, despite better-than-expected results, as skepticism arises, investors are more reactive and companies are unable to buy back shares due to earnings blackout periods.

As the US earnings season gathers momentum, early results are offering a window into the economic and political crosscurrents shaping Corporate America’s outlook for the year ahead. Stocks are trading at high valuations after the S&P 500 clocked in three straight years of double-digit growth, leaving little room for error.

Earnings resilience and stability in the rates market are crucial for stocks to shrug off geopolitical noise, according to Barclays Plc strategists led by Emmanuel Cau.

The slow start of the earnings season suggests geopolitics isn’t the only driver of stock volatility, according to RBC Capital Markets strategists led by Lori Calvasina. They noted that analysts’ 2026 earnings growth forecast has fallen slightly while macro commentary remains cautiously optimistic on earnings calls.

Corporate Highlights:

Apple Inc. accused the European Commission of using “political delay tactics” to postpone new app policies as a pretense to investigate and fine the iPhone maker. Meta Platforms Inc., the reigning leader in the growing smart glasses category, is being sued by another glasses maker over patent infringement in a case that also targets the US entity of eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica SA and its Oakley subsidiary. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr sees “legitimate competition concerns” in Netflix Inc.’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery Inc.’s studios and streaming businesses, concerns he doesn’t share if Paramount Skydance Corp. were to acquire those assets. SLB, the world’s largest oilfield-services provider, raised its dividend and posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat estimates as activity in the Middle East and other key regions accelerated and its data-center business rapidly expanded. DoorDash Inc. and Uber Technologies Inc. lost a bid to block a New York City law requiring a tipping option be presented to customers at checkout from going into effect Monday. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted Chief Executive Officer David Solomon’s pay to $47 million, capping a year in which the investment bank’s shares soared and its leader reasserted his control at the top. Capital One Financial Corp. reported adjusted earnings per share that missed the average analyst estimate. The company also agreed to acquire Brex, a financial-technology company that focuses on corporate expense management and accounting, for $5.15 billion. Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. has started selling vapes in some stores across the US, a surprise reversal after the drugstore chain stopped selling them more than six years ago amid concerns about their popularity with teens. Software maker Databricks Inc. has lined up $1.8 billion of new financing from broadly syndicated loan investors and private credit lenders. Affirm Holdings Inc. said it applied for a limited bank charter to help roll out additional financial-technology products for the buy-now, pay-later company’s US customers. Short interest in Sandisk Corp. has been climbing for months alongside a sharp rally in the stock, pushing the risk of a short squeeze to an “extreme” level, according to S3 Partners LLC. The online arm of Saks Global Enterprises won court approval to hire a liquidator to sell its inventory separately from the rest of the luxury retailer. Deutsche Lufthansa AG faces the risk of having to block off almost the entire business-class section on its new Boeing Co. 787 aircraft for longer as seat certification drags out, an expensive setback at a time when more passengers are upgrading to the front of the cabin. Ericsson AB proposed its first-ever buyback after fourth-quarter earnings beat analysts’ forecasts, boosted by the Swedish telecommunications equipment maker’s efforts to cut costs and raise margins in a sluggish market. Thyssenkrupp AG is considering the sale of a roughly 30% stake in its Rothe Erde bearings business, people familiar with the matter said, in a deal that could value the asset at about €1.5 billion ($1.8 billion). Pirelli & C. SpA’s biggest Italian investor said it won’t renew a shareholder agreement governing the tiremaker with China’s Sinochem Group, citing an inability to adapt the company’s governance to US legal requirements. French authorities received a report of a second infant death, as a tainted formula crisis that’s engulfed Nestlé SA, Danone SA and Groupe Lactalis widens. Some of the main moves in markets:

Stocks

The S&P 500 was little changed as of 4 p.m. New York time The Nasdaq 100 rose 0.3% The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.6% The MSCI World Index rose 0.3% Bloomberg Magnificent 7 Total Return Index rose 1% The Russell 2000 Index fell 1.8% Intel fell 17% Nvidia rose 1.5% Currencies

The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.7% The euro rose 0.6% to $1.1825 The British pound rose 1% to $1.3638 The Japanese yen rose 1.6% to 155.80 per dollar Cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin rose 0.4% to $89,506.48 Ether was little changed at $2,944.2 Bonds

The yield on 10-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 4.23% Germany’s 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 2.91% Britain’s 10-year yield advanced four basis points to 4.51% The yield on 2-year Treasuries declined one basis point to 3.60% The yield on 30-year Treasuries was little changed at 4.83% Commodities

West Texas Intermediate crude rose 3.2% to $61.27 a barrel Spot gold rose 1% to $4,984.39 an ounce ©2026 Bloomberg L.P.