Biden tells top CEOs at White House summit to step up on cybersecurity

Muskan Singh

August 29, 2021

USA President Biden called on the leaders of companies including Apple, Google, and JPMorgan Chase to respond to cybersecurity threats during a summit on Wednesday at the White House. The White House estimates roughly half a million cybersecurity jobs remain open amid an onslaught of cyberattacks. The shortage of professionals compounds these challenges. The meeting was part of a broader effort to prioritize cyberattacks as national security and economic threat. Biden called upon individual executives such as Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. They discussed the tech industry’s steps to address cybersecurity, problems affecting financial services, including ransomware attacks. Representatives from nonprofit organizations focused on computer science education, including Girls Who Code, and several colleges were summoned to discuss efforts to bolster the cybersecurity workforce. Even though there’s a lot of competition, it was a very collaborative discussion. The talk included multiple cybersecurity insurance companies, adding that it could force better behavior throughout the industry. The threat of regulation could be a driving force behind companies’ willingness to partner with the administration on key initiatives. Lawmakers are increasingly weighing mandates for companies after years of increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks. Notably, the White House guest list did not include recent victims of high-profile hacks, including Colonial Pipeline or T-Mobile, which suffered a data breach earlier this month that exposed the personal information of more than 40 million people. When asked whether Biden would support legislation that would mandate companies to report cybersecurity incidents, White House press secretary Jen Psaki gave no firm answer but said they would review any proposals Congress advances.

Abridged fromThe Washington Post