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The heads of Apple, Google, Amazon, Microsoft and IBM are among the business leaders meeting with President Joe Biden in the White House on Wednesday to discuss how the government and private sector can work together to improve the nation’s cybersecurity, according to a senior administration official.
“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 during a brief comment at the start of the meeting. “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.”
The government and business leaders will make announcements in key areas that build on the administration’s efforts to shore up the nation’s cybersecurity, according to the senior official. The tech CEOs are also meeting with members of Biden’s cabinet to look at ways to build more-enduring cybersecurity, while other executives will focus on critical infrastructure and the cybersecurity workforce.
The meeting, announced by the administration in July, follows several high-profile ransomware and cyberattack episodes in the US. So far this year, ransomware attacks have shut down a gas pipeline and a major meat producer, fueling concerns that other critical infrastructure is at risk. A number of federal agencies also fell victim to the wide-reaching SolarWinds hack that was uncovered late last year.
Tech executives attending the meeting includeGoogle parent company Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, Apple CEO Tim Cook, IBM CEO Arvind Krishna, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Carlos Rodriguez CEO of payroll services company ADP.
Also attending are executives from the financial, education, energy and insurance industries, including JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and ConocoPhillips CEO Ryan Lance.
