US cybersecurity officials have stated that Amazon, Google, and Microsoft have enlisted to combat ransomware and protect cloud computing platforms from cybercriminals.
According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), the tech giants are among the companies that have signed on to be a member of a Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative aimed at combining government and private sector capabilities and resources to combat hackers.
Ms. Jen Easterly, Director at CISA commented, “With these extraordinarily capable partners, our initial focus will be on efforts to combat ransomware and developing a planning framework to coordinate incidents affecting cloud service providers.”
Last week, US President Joe Biden expressed concern about the recent rise in cyberattacks, particularly ransomware, which encrypts victims’ data and then demands money to recover access. “If we end up in a war, a real shooting war, with a major power, it’s going to be as a consequence of a cyber breach,” Mr. Biden said.
Ms. Easterly introduced the new collaboration during the Black Hat cybersecurity conference in Las Vegas, where industry experts gathered to discuss research and ideas.
“Damages from cybercrime is costing the world trillions, and ransomware has become a scourge. I want to focus on strengthening the government’s collaboration with the private sector – industry, academia, researchers, hackers,” Ms. Easterly remarked in a keynote presentation at the event.
According to CISA, the new center would be involved in coordinating national cyber defense and sharing insights into threats, as well as take part in joint exercises. Ms. Easterly has urged more computer security organizations to join the collaborative effort.
