Tech Companies Pledge to Support Biden’s National Cybersecurity Effort

President Joe Biden has met with private-sector and education leaders to discuss ways to strengthen U.S. cybersecurity.

Several technology companies and cybersecurity groups announced the individual initiatives they plan to launch to support the administration’s effort, according to a White House fact sheet released Wednesday.

Apple said it will create a new program aimed at continually driving security improvements in the American technology supply chain.

The company plans to work with its 9,000-strong supply chain in the mass adoption of multi-factor authentication, security training, vulnerability remediation, event logging and incident response.

Google earmarked $10 billion for the expansion of zero trust programs for the benefit of the software supply chain. The investment is also expected to help 100,000 Americans earn digital skills credentials.

IBM said it will train 150,000 people in cybersecurity skills over the next three years, with plans to work with more than 20 historically black colleges and universities to foster a diverse cyber workforce.

Microsoft announced $20 billion in investments over the next five years in efforts to integrate cybersecurity in the foundations of technology designs.

Amazon pledged to make its internal cybersecurity training resources freely available to the public. A multi-factor authentication function will also be made available to all Amazon Web Services account holders at no cost.

On the federal government’s side, Biden said the National Institutes of Standards and Technology will work with stakeholders on the development of a new framework to improve the security of the technology supply chain.

The administration plans to stick to its approach of basing U.S. cybersecurity on voluntary NIST frameworks amid pressures to impose cybersecurity requirements, Nextgov reported Wednesday.

“Our view has long been that it is a combined responsibility of the federal government to put in place clear guidelines, clear best practices, and the private sector,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said during a press briefing.