Leaders in the tech and insurance sectors have promised millions of dollars to beef up cybersecurity issues during a meeting with the United States of America President, Joe Biden on Wednesday. The meeting was held as a result of several high-profile cyberattacks which include attacks on government software contractor SolarWinds and oil pipeline Colonial Pipeline, that have brought added urgency to such security issues. The commitments range from working toward new industry standards to supplying other businesses with stronger security tools and providing skills training to workers to fill the roughly 500,000 unfilled U.S. cybersecurity jobs.
Racall that, Biden recently signed an executive order requiring U.S. agencies to use two-factor authentication for logins, which can help prevent cyberattacks.“Biden signed an executive order requiring U.S. agencies to use two-factor authentication for logins, to help prevent cyberattacks”. The White House said Apple would create a program devoted to making security improvements across their technology supply chains, which will include working with suppliers to adopt multifactor authentication and security training.
Google said it would invest more than $10 billion over five years to strengthen cybersecurity and pledged to train 100,000 Americans in technical fields such as IT support and data analytics through its Career Certificate program.
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella tweeted after the meeting that it has committed $20 billion over five years to deliver more advanced security tools and also added that Microsoft would invest $150 million to help government agencies upgrade their security systems and expand cybersecurity training partnerships.
IBM on its own said it would train more than 150,000 people in cybersecurity skills in three years while partnering with historically Black colleges and universities to help diversify the workforce.
It further announced a new data storage solution for critical infrastructure companies and said it’s working to create safe encryption methods for quantum computing. Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing division of Amazon, is planning to give account holders free multifactor authentication devices to better secure their data. It’s also planning to offer “Security Awareness training” to organizations and individuals.
A spokesperson for financial services company TIAA pointed to several ongoing initiatives it’s undertaken to train more cybersecurity workers. These include a partnership with New York University that allows TIAA associates to pursue a fully reimbursed master’s degree in cybersecurity. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on the outcome of the meeting said it is very productive.