Fear Of Being 'tricked' Again, White House Brings Together US Tech Giants To Discuss Software Security

The White House is concerned about another massive hack in the US. (photo: doc. unsplash)

JAKARTA - The White House will meet with executives from leading technology companies in the US, on Thursday, January 13. The companies are Alphabet's Google, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc, to discuss software security after the United States has suffered several major cyberattacks in recent years.

In December, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan sent a letter to the tech company's chief executive after the discovery of a security vulnerability in open-source software called Log4j. This software is used by organizations around the world to log data in their applications.

In the letter, Sullivan noted that such open source software is widely used and maintained by volunteers and is a "major national security concern."

As reported by Reuters, Thursday's meeting, hosted by the deputy national security adviser for cyber & new technologies, Anne Neuberger, will discuss concerns around the security of open source software and how they can be improved.

Other top tech companies attending the meeting included IBM, Microsoft Corp, Meta Platforms Inc, which owns Facebook, and Oracle Corp (ORCL.N). Government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and the Department of Commerce, will also attend.

Cybersecurity has become a top priority for the Joe Biden administration after several major cyberattacks last year, which exposed thousands of records held by companies and government agencies to hackers.

One hack, which the US government says was probably orchestrated by Russia, hacked software made by SolarWinds and gave hackers access to thousands of companies and government offices that use its products. Hackers gain access to emails at the US Department of the Treasury, the Department of Justice and Commerce, and other agencies.

The increasing frequency and impact of such attacks prompted the government to issue an executive order last year creating review boards and new software standards for government agencies. The US government takes such attacks very seriously.