After a series of high-profile cyber attacks in recent months, US President Joe Biden urged leaders of large technology companies to step up and strengthen the country’s cyber security.
When meeting with the CEOs of Amazon, Apple, Google, IBM and Microsoft at the White House on Wednesday (August 25), Biden called on industry leaders to contribute to upgrading critical infrastructure and supply chain cybersecurity.
The President of the United States defined cyber security as a “core national security challenge” and announced a new executive order requiring the federal government to only purchase technical products that meet certain cyber security standards.
According to Biden, this order “in our view, will have a ripple effect on the entire software industry and ultimately improve the safety of all Americans.”
He also announced, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) will work with this Private Sector develop The new industry standard will ensure Security and integrity of the technology supply chain. Microsoft, Google, IBM and two leading insurance companies have already committed to the plan.
Big technology response
Several announcements were issued after the high-level meeting, including senior cybersecurity officials from the US government.
Google and IBM announced training programs for thousands of cybersecurity experts. Amazon is also committed to providing its internal cybersecurity training to the public for free. According to the US government, the current skills gap means that 500,000 cybersecurity jobs may be vacant in the next few years.
Microsoft said it will spend US$20 billion in cybersecurity programs within five years to accelerate efforts to integrate cybersecurity by designing and providing advanced security solutions.
Google has pledged to invest US$10 billion in network security in the next five years as part of its “Zero Trust” program, which aims to protect digital networks by restricting user access.
Amazon also announced that it will provide free multi-factor authentication devices to customers of its cloud computing services, which the e-commerce giant hopes to improve their protection against cybersecurity threats such as phishing and password theft.
Apple said it would Launch a new program to promote continuous security improvements throughout the supply chain, in particular to encourage its suppliers to adopt multi-factor authentication, security training, vulnerability fixes, incident recording and incident response.
According to the White House, more than 9,000 of Apple’s suppliers are located in the United States.
Growing threat
In the past few months, the United States has faced increasing numbers of ransomware and cyber attacks. In May, a ransomware attack compromised the Colonial Pipeline, the country’s largest fuel pipeline, causing severe disruptions on the West Coast for several days.
A similar disruption affected the food supply chain in June, as the meat giant JBS had to temporarily close its business after the ransomware attack.
In December 2020, the U.S. government suffered the worst cyber attack in its history. Hackers managed to access sensitive information of local, state, and federal agencies from the 30,000 public and private organizations affected.
All these cases are attributed to Russian hackers.
Cybersecurity is a core topic of Biden’s meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva in June. He warned his Russian counterparts at the meeting that if the Kremlin does not control hackers on its territory, the consequences will be serious.
Biden further increased the pressure in July, claiming that another major cyber attack may lead to a “real gun battle.”
A poll conducted by the “Washington Post” showed that the Biden administration received positive reviews from the US cybersecurity community in the first six months, which gave the government a “full score.”
[Edited by Zoran Radosavljevic]
