Ransomware, a form of malware designed by hackers to encrypt files on a device, in the process rendering the files and systems that rely on them unusable, has done enough damage in the Western world, especially the USA, with Hospitals, Educational institutions and Establishment their major targets.
It appears that major tech companies are not having this digital onslaught as the United States Department of Homeland Security on Thursday revealed it would be incorporating Amazon, Microsoft, and Google to strengthen cyber security measures in the US.
The US government latest initiative, Join Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) is reported to hopefully pave way to a tighter security development and decrease cyber intrusions effects.
The Wall Street Journal reports that the plan was mooted to emphasize on the fight against ransomware and in the process create a framework to address cyber attacks that have a direct impact on cloud service providers, helping to enhance information distribution between the authorities and the private sector.
Jeff Easterly, Director Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency in a statement said:
“The JCDC presents an exciting and important opportunity for this agency and our partners – the creation of a unique planning capability to be proactive vice reactive in our collective approach to dealing with the most serious cyber threats to our nation,”
The United States government had earlier in the year secured a 20 billion dollars plan to reimburse the country’s infrastructure against cyber attacks, coming after “SolarWinds” devastating hack of 2020.
.Google in a statement confirmed the arrangement when its Cloud’s Chief Information Security Officer, Phil Venables in a email wrote;
“In order to bolster our nation’s cyber defences, it’s essential that the public and private sectors work together to defend against evolving threats and show up modern IT capabilities that will protect our federal, state and local governments,” Phil Venables, Google Cloud’s chief information security officer addressed the topic in an emailed statement.
Microsoft and Amazon have not released any statement concerning the initiative yet.
Ayoola Faseyi, an Abuja based Journalist with interest in Technology and Politics. He is a versatile writer with articles in many renowned News Journals.
He is the Co-Founder of media brand, The Vent Republic.
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