Big Tech firms pledge billions in investment to address cyber threats post Biden meeting

Leading American technology companies have pledged to make billions of dollars worth of investments to embolden cybersecurity, as well as train skilled workers to bolster those defenses, the White House announced in a press release on 26 August.

US President Joe Biden held a meeting with the country’s top tech executives to address the core national security challenge in Washington and tackle instances of ransomware attacks that have targeted critical infrastructure and major corporations, such as the Colonial Pipeline, in the past.

“We’ve seen time and again how the technologies we rely on, from our cell phones to pipelines, to the electric grid can become targets of hackers and criminals,” the US President said, adding that the skilled American cybersecurity workforce has failed to keep up with the pace. Some of these illicit cyber operations have been linked back to foreign hackers, particularly to Russian hackers. 

“The reality is most of our critical infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector, and the federal government can’t meet this challenge alone,” Biden said in the gathering of sophisticated CEOs including Apple CEO Tim Cook, and IBM CEO Arvind Krishna.

“I’ve invited you all here today because you have the power, the capacity and the responsibility, I believe, to raise the bar on cybersecurity,” he continued. 

In May, Biden had signed an executive order to modernize cybersecurity defences and improve the federal government’s cybersecurity. Now, implementing that regulation, the US government will only buy tech products that meet certain cybersecurity standards, which, according to President Biden, will have a ripple effect across the software industry in the USA. “This will ultimately improving security for all Americans,” the White House quoted Biden as saying in a release. The USA launched a 100-day initiative to improve cybersecurity across the electric sector, ramping up deployment for 90 million Americans, in more than 150 utilities. 

“We’re committing to deploy cybersecurity technologies that are — that are extending that initiative as — to gas pipelines as well, next.  That’s where we’re going,” said Joe Biden. He continued, that cybersecurity “is a global issue, we’ve also rallied G7 countries to hold nations who harbour ransomware criminals accountable.” 

The US President reminded that at the summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, he had made it clear that the USA is expected to hold Moscow accountable, adding that he has updated NATO cyber policy for the first time in seven years. Biden urged the private sector to ramp up security against sophisticated cyber attacks. 

(Image: AP)

Google pledges $10 billion, Microsoft $20 billion in cybersecurity

After the meeting, the White House announced that Google had made a commitment to invest $10 billion in cybersecurity over the next five years, to secure the software supply chain and expand zero-trust programs. The decision, according to an AP report, was taken citing the “massive Russian government cyberespionage campaign” that has pushed US government to safeguard its supply chain. Time and again, Moscow has been held accountable for exploiting vulnerabilities, and hackers have attacked networks of US government agencies and private companies. 

(Image: AP)

Microsoft, meanwhile pledged to invest $20 billion in cybersecurity, as well as make available $150 million in technical services to provide assistance to the US government to boost their cybersecurity. IBM assured to train 150,000 people in cybersecurity for over three years, while Apple has made a commitment to safeguarding the technology supply chain. Amazon will offer its pupil cybersecurity awareness training to curb instances of compromise. 

A senior administration official who briefed reporters in advance was quoted by AP as saying that while the meeting was aimed at addressing the ransomware attacks, it was just a small aspect of the discussion which focuses on identifying the “root causes of any kind of malicious cyber activity.” The meeting aims to explore ways the private sector can help strengthen American cybersecurity. Biden administration officials described Wednesday’s meeting as a “call to action.”