Following the high-profile meeting of major tech giants and the President of The United States, Joe Biden, that took place at the White House on Wednesday, Microsoft and others have promised to help bolster US cybersecurity. While the pledges vary from one company to the other, the pledges range from offering supply-chain aid and education and spending billions on cyberinfrastructure.
The high-profile meeting with tech CEOs that took place on Wednesday was necessitated by the unending and seemingly major cyberattacks against US government agencies and energy infrastructure like the Colonial Pipeline.
U.S Government Can’t Do It Alone
As clearly stated by President Biden at the meeting, the reality of the situation on the ground is that most of the critical infrastructure is owned and operated by the private sector, thus giving rise to the need for both the private individuals and the federal government to work hand in hand in tackling the menace as the latter can’t meet the challenge alone.
Apple revealed its plans to work with its suppliers to “drive mass adoption of multi-factor authentication” as well as provide new training on security, incident response, and vulnerability remediation.
In the same vein, Amazon plans to provide a multi-factor authentication device to all of its account holders for free and make security awareness training available to all for free.
However, Google has claimed that over the next five years, it will spend no less than $10 billion on strengthening US cybersecurity and the software supply chain. Google also promised that there would be a training program for over 100,000 Americans who would learn data analytics and IT support through the company’s Career Certificate program. Microsoft also made similar promises as Google by saying it would invest $20 billion in a matter of five years.
In attendance at Wednesday’s meeting with President Joe Biden was Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Apple CEO Tim Cook, IBM Chair and CEO Arvind Krishna, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, along with other representatives from some industries like the energy and education sectors.
