US President Joe Biden will meet at the White House on Wednesday with leaders of the largest US technology companies, to discuss "general commitments toward better security measures in information technology and training of more workforce," according to Reuters.
CEOs of Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and chief insurers will meet with the president and the department's top cybersecurity officials, including Director of National Cyber Security Chris Engels and Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mallorcas.
The American Bloomberg website said that the meeting came "after the significant challenges posed by cyber attacks" on the United States, and expected that the meeting would also discuss "the efforts of critical infrastructure entities, including the banking, energy and water sectors, to improve cyber security and cooperation with the government."
The meeting will also discuss, according to Reuters, insurance policies related to cybersecurity and ransomware attacks.
“The increased use of cyber insurance over the past 10 years has acted as a wake-up call for ransom gangs — and encouraged more attacks, as insured victims are often more than willing to quickly withdraw and make payments,” said Dmitri Alperovich, president of the Silverado Policy Group in Washington. The ransom is knowing that they will be compensated by insurance.
Experts say influencing the insurance market's policies around cyber attacks could bring broad improvements to cyber defense systems across the private industry.
And the specialized website ars technica said that prominent security breaches that Biden and technical chiefs may discuss may include the server breach of the American company T Mobile, which revealed the personal data of 100 million Americans, the attack on SolarWinds, which exposed the company's electronic server management tools, and a massive ransom attack. Kaseya and a breach targeting insurance company Geico led to the disclosure of its customers' driver's license numbers, addresses, and dates of birth.
Although most of these attacks are "silent" in nature, taking place behind the scenes of the companies themselves, an attack in May on Colonial's pipeline led to a fuel crisis on the East Coast of the United States that lasted for days.
Yahoo said the guest list also includes major players from the financial sector, such as the CEO of Bank of America, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, and chief executives and energy leaders.
And the site quoted a US administration official - whose name was not revealed - as saying that "in many cases the private sector is in a better position to take action on cybersecurity than the public sector."
The official added, according to Yahoo, that the Biden administration is ready to introduce new incentives and government mandates to ensure that private companies enhance security.
In addition to the major attacks, states and local municipalities have also been hit by cyberattacks that have affected everything from their records to their 9-1-1 systems, according to Yahoo.
The losses are not limited to the ransom paid only, but attacks can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in time, labor, and new equipment to repair, money that many of these states and municipalities lack, and such breaches often result from outdated software or a bug. Poorly configured user or security systems.
In May, Biden admitted he could not force private companies to take measures to prevent attacks. But, he added, "it became clear to everyone that we have to do more than we are doing now."
The Biden administration has proposed nearly $1 billion in grants under its $1 trillion infrastructure bill to improve cybersecurity for state, local, and tribal governments.
The federal government has gone ahead with new cybersecurity rules for pipeline operators, requiring them to report any cyber attacks on their systems to the Department of Homeland Security's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and implementing means to guard against future cyberattacks.
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