Apple's Tim Cook to Visit White House Amid Rise in Cyber Attacks

Tim Cook and Satya Nadella Photographers: David Paul Morris; Simon Dawson/Bloomberg

Amazon Chief Executive Andy Jassy will join tech executives at a White House meeting with President Joe Biden on Wednesday to discuss efforts by private companies to improve cybersecurity, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The source asked not to be identified as the information was not public.

Apple CEO Tim Cook and Microsoft Chief Executive Satya Nadella will also attend the White House cybersecurity event, Bloomberg News reported on Monday, citing sources.

The chief executives of other large tech companies, banks, energy companies, and water utilities, including Alphabet's Google, International Business Machines, Southern, and JPMorgan Chase have also been invited, Bloomberg said.

Apple, IBM, Microsoft, and JPMorgan did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside regular working hours. Google did not comment on who would attend and referred to the White House for more details beyond last month's announcement.

In July, US President Joe Biden signed a national security memorandum, launching a new public-private initiative that creates "performance controls" for cybersecurity at America's most critical companies, including water treatment and electrical power plants. The announcement came after multiple high-profile cyberattacks this year crippled American companies and government agencies, including a ransomware incident which disrupted gasoline supplies.

August 24, 2021