DHS, federal officials meet with private sector firms to discuss cybersecurity challenges

Officials from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security met with leading technology and cybersecurity industry executives to discuss how the federal government and the private sector work together better to tackle key cybersecurity challenges.

The meeting was attended by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, National Cyber Director Chris Inglis, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director Jen Easterly, and DHS Under Secretary for Policy Rob Silvers.

“Cybersecurity threats impact individuals, communities, and organizations of all sizes. Increasing nationwide cybersecurity resilience is a top priority for DHS and the Biden-Harris Administration,” Mayorkas said. “We are taking proactive steps to elevate our operational cooperation with the private sector to new heights, prioritizing our shared goal of defending a secure digital future.”

Representing the private sector were officials from AT&T, Broadcom, Cisco, Cloudflare, Google, Juniper Networks, Lumen, Mandiant, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks, Recorded Future, SecureWorks, Tenable, and VMWare.

“Cybersecurity is a team sport and we each have a vital role to play,” Inglis said. “Collaborating with the private sector is instrumental in the Administration’s holistic approach to tackling some of the Nation’s challenging cybersecurity issues.  That is why I welcomed the opportunity to meet with government and industry leaders in Silicon Valley to build those relationships and identify areas and opportunities for collaboration. I look forward to continued participation in this important effort.”

The meeting included discussions aimed at improving cybersecurity-related public-private partnerships by strengthening operational collaboration and defining metrics of success. Further, it focused on what government and industry can do together to build global cybersecurity resilience.

“CISA’s Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC) is uniquely positioned to be the front door to government for cybersecurity defense. The JCDC brings together in one place the talent, expertise, and capabilities of the federal cybersecurity ecosystem with the ingenuity, innovation, and imagination of the private sector to plan and exercise against the most serious threats; and drive down risk to the Nation at scale,” Easterly said. “I was thrilled to meet yesterday with members of the JCDC and other key industry leaders to discuss how to strengthen operational collaboration and information sharing to help protect the American people and our critical infrastructure.”