In brief: President Joe Biden is reportedly set to meet with the heads of Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and other tech giants tomorrow (Wednesday, August 25) to discuss recent ransomware attacks and cybersecurity issues.
Bloomberg reports that Tim Cook, Satay Nadella, and Amazon CEO Andy Jassy are the big names attending tomorrow afternoon's meeting. They could be joined by Google's Sundar Pichai, who has been invited, along with execs from IBM, and JPMorgan Chase. Southern Company CEO Tom Fanning will also be attending.
According to a senior official familiar with the event, the surge in online attacks against US organizations over the last year will be the main topic of conversation. Top of the agenda will likely be the attack on Kaseya's VSA system management platform by the Russia-based REvil hacker gang, DarkSide's ransomware hit on the Colonial Pipeline, and the massive SolarWinds hack that affected both companies and government agencies alike.
With many of the groups responsible for these incidents based in Russia, Biden has repeatedly called on President Vladimir Putin to do more to curtail the hackers. POTUS has threatened US retaliation against Russia if the criminals continue to act with impunity. Biden even warned that the cyberattacks could lead to a "real shooting war."
Bloomberg writes that the meeting could examine the online security of critical US infrastructure, such as banking, energy, and water utility sectors, and the industries' collaboration with the government. The execs are also "likely to discuss how software can drive better security in the supply chain."
It appears that Biden has a better relationship with tech leaders than his predecessor. Donald Trump held several meetings with Silicon Valley's elite during his time in office and formed the American Technology Council. However, many CEOs spoke out against him during his election run and presidency---Peter Thiel was one of the few to show support publicly---while pulling out of the Paris Agreement and Trump's immigration policies brought their collective ire. Trump was also very vocal about his dislike of Jezz Bezos.