Cybersecurity News

Biden Administration Announces National Cybersecurity Initiatives

President Biden met with education and private sector leaders to discuss national cybersecurity initiatives following the Administration’s executive order in May.

Biden Administration Announces National Cybersecurity Initiatives

Source: Getty Images

By Jill McKeon

- President Biden met with cybersecurity leaders from Apple, Google, Amazon, JPMorgan Chase, and others at the White House to discuss national cybersecurity initiatives in accordance with the Administration’s executive order signed in May aimed at improving the nation’s cybersecurity. In a subsequent fact sheet, the Administration outlined its initiatives discussed during the meeting.

The Administration has been ramping up its cybersecurity efforts and encouraging private companies to do the same, especially since a malicious ransomware attack on US critical infrastructure company Colonial Pipeline in May.

In late July, President Biden issued a national security memorandum outlining cybersecurity expectations for critical infrastructure entities.

Throughout the president’s meeting with industry leaders, participants announced various initiatives and commitments that aim to bolster the country’s cybersecurity.

Represented by CEO Tim Cook, Apple announced that it will establish a program to improve security across the technology supply chain. Apple pledged to work with its suppliers to encourage widespread adoption of multi-factor authentication, vulnerability remediation, event logging, incident response, and security training.

The Biden Administration revealed that the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and industry leaders will jointly develop a new framework to improve supply chain security. The framework will serve as a guide to private companies on how to assess and ensure cybersecurity.

Coalition, Travelers, IBM, Microsoft, and Google committed to working with NIST on the initiative.

IBM said it would train 150,000 individuals in cybersecurity skills over the next three years. The tech giant pledged to partner with over 20 Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HCBUs) to establish Cybersecurity Leadership Centers and increase diversity in the cybersecurity workforce.

Google committed to investing $10 billion over the next five years to roll out zero-trust programs, improve open-source security, and secure software across the supply chain. Google also said it will train 100,000 individuals on cybersecurity-focused digital skills certificates.

Amazon committed to making its employee security awareness trainings open to the public at no charge. Led by CEO Andy Jassy, Amazon also committed to making multi-factor authentication devices free to Amazon Web Services account holders, with the hopes of mitigating cybersecurity threats like phishing and password breaches.

The Biden Administration also announced that it would expand the Industrial Control Systems Cybersecurity Initiative to the natural gas pipeline sector. To date, the initiative has helped to tighten cybersecurity practices across 150 electric utilities.

Focusing on education, Girls Who Code announced that it will spearhead a micro-credentialing cybersecurity program for underrepresented groups in technology. Code.org said it will educate over three million students on basic cybersecurity concepts over the next three years.

“Recent high-profile cybersecurity incidents demonstrate that both U.S. public and private sector entities increasingly face sophisticated malicious cyber activity,” the fact sheet stated.

“Cybersecurity threats and incidents affect businesses of all sizes, small towns and cities in every corner of the country, and the pocketbooks of middle-class families. Compounding the challenge, nearly half a million public and private cybersecurity jobs remain unfilled.”

Recent cyberattacks on healthcare providers, hospitals, and private sector US critical infrastructure entities have further emphasized the importance of improving the nation’s cybersecurity and keeping valuable data out of the hands of bad actors.