From: Hillicon Valley/The Hill’s Technology Blog
By Jennifer Martinez
President Obama will meet with CEOs on Wednesday afternoon to discuss efforts to improve cybersecurity amid growing concerns within the administration over attacks from China targeting American businesses.
The president will discuss efforts to address the cyber threat facing the country and get the executives’ feedback on how the government and private sector can forge a relationship to improve cybersecurity in the United States, according to The White House. The meeting will be held in the Situation Room.
The administration in recent weeks has ramped up efforts to deal with the cyber threat to the nation’s computer systems.
The president signed an executive order last month that’s aimed at safeguarding the country’s power grid, water plants and other critical infrastructure from cyberattacks. During his State of the Union address, the president spoke about the need for the country to improve its cybersecurity and for Congress to pass legislation that would better secure critical computer networks from hacker attacks.
On Monday, Tom Donilon, Obama’s national security adviser, warned China to take “serious steps” to prevent hackers from breaking into U.S. computers and stealing business secrets.
The remarks were the administration’s most direct yet in response to Chinese cyber spying.
The White House meeting also comes a day after the nation’s top cybersecurity chief and the heads of the intelligence services warned lawmakers that cyber attacks posed the top security threat to the U.S.
Gen. Keith Alexander, the head of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency told a Senate hearing on Tuesday that the number of cyber attacks on Wall Street would “grow significantly” this year.
Newly-confirmed CIA Director John Brennan called the cyber threats “significant” national security challenges.
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