Biden talks cybersecurity with top tech, finance CEOs

WASHINGTON — President Biden met Wednesday with top executives from some of the country’s leading technology companies and financial institutions as the White House urges the private sector to help toughen cybersecurity defenses against increasingly sophisticated attacks.

The summit comes during a relentless stretch of ransomware attacks that have targeted critical infrastructure, in some cases with the attackers extorting multimillion-dollar payments from major corporations, as well as other illicit cyber operations that U.S. authorities have linked to foreign hackers.

In public remarks before the private meeting got under way, Biden referred to cybersecurity as a “core national security challenge” for the U.S.

“The reality is 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. “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.”

Though ransomware is one focus of Wednesday’s gathering, the purpose of the meeting is broader and centered on identifying the “root causes of malicious cyber activities” and ways in which the private sector can help bolster cybersecurity, said a senior administration official who briefed reporters on the condition of anonymity.

The guest list for Wednesday’s meeting included Apple CEO Tim Cook, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company. Also on the list are the leaders of IBM, Microsoft and Automatic Data Processing. Besides Biden, multiple Cabinet secretaries and national security officials are representing the administration.

The meeting took place as Biden’s national security team has been consumed by the troop withdrawal in Afghanistan and the chaotic evacuation of Americans and Afghan citizens.

Financial industry executives were also expected, including the chief executives of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, as well as representatives from the energy, education and insurance sectors.