As part of a new campaign aimed at improving the country's cyber defences, the US government has announced partnerships with Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and other major corporations. According to CISA Director Jen Easterly, the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative, or JCDC, would strive to take a proactive approach to cyber defense in the wake of multiple high-profile breaches that damaged the federal government and the general public.
The JCDC would initially focus on battling ransomware and other cyberattacks against cloud computing providers, according to a Wall Street Journal report, in order to avoid situations like the recent Kaseya supply-chain ransomware incident that occurred earlier this summer.
“The industry partners that have agreed to work side-by-side with CISA and our interagency teammates share the same commitment to defending our country’s national critical functions from cyber intrusions, and the imagination to spark new solutions,” Easterly said in the statement.
CISA will be able to integrate unique cyber capabilities across numerous federal departments, state and local governments, and private sector firms to achieve shared objectives due to the establishment of the JCDC. The new programme will also enable the public and commercial sectors to share information, coordinate defensive cyber operations, and participate in joint exercises to improve cyber defense operations in the United States.
Aside from AWS, Microsoft, and Google Cloud, the JCDC will collaborate with AT&T, Crowdstrike, FireEye Mandiant, Lumen, Palo Alto Networks, and Verizon. Meanwhile, the Department of Defense (DoD), US Cyber Command, the National Security Agency (NSA), the Department of Justice (DoJ), the FBI, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence are among the government's partners.
Rep. Jim Langevin, D-RI, is a member of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and a senior member of the House Committee on Homeland Security, said the JCDC is “exactly the kind of aggressive, forward-thinking we need to combat the ever-growing cyber threats that face our nation.” In a statement, Langevin said the JCDC “brings together our [Cyberspace Solarium Commission] recommendations about planning, intelligence fusion and cybersecurity operations in a visionary way.”
According to a Langevin aide, the Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative will house the Joint Planning Office, which Congress has authorised, as well as the Joint Collaborative Environment, if passed this year as politicians like Langevin hope.
