An unlikely alliance? GAFAM responds to US aid

Some web giants, commonly known as GAFAM (Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft) offer their expertise to the US government in cybersecurity.

The US Agency for Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security (CISA) is leading a task force made up of officials from the US government as well as people from private industries.

Having made the announcement this Thursday (August 5), a government official announced that Amazon, AT&T, Crowdstrike, FireEye Mandiant, Google Cloud, Lumen, Microsoft, Palo Alto Networks and Verizon, are the private companies that offer their assistance to the federal committee.

Recall that President Joe Biden signed an executive order in May to “improve the nation’s cybersecurity and protect America’s digital infrastructure”, we can read on the CISA website.

This desire comes in the wake of several recent attacks in the United States, mostly in the form of “ransomware.” This method employed by cybercriminals involves encrypting data to make it inaccessible and then demanding a sum in order to regain access to it.

After the ransomware attack, it is attacks on cloud systems (the cloud) that the US government wants the committee to find solutions to.

In Canada, researchers at Ryerson University in Ontario have highlighted some of the Canadian government’s shortcomings in responding to and protecting against cyber attacks.

These researchers argue in particular that Canada should do an external review of the vulnerabilities of its systems. How? ‘Or’ What? In particular by working together with experts from various backgrounds.

Moreover, these researchers note that in the country, there is no legal framework to report in good faith computer vulnerabilities of a system, unlike in the Netherlands or the United States.

Could the collaboration established in the United States between the private sector and the federal government inspire Canada?

Sources:

https://www.cisa.gov/news/2021/05/13/statement-cisa-acting-director-wales-executive-order-improve-nations-cybersecurity

https://www.journaldemontreal.com/2021/08/05/cybersecurite-washington-sollicite-laide-dentreprises-comme-amazon-et-google-1

https://theconversation.com/devant-lexplosion-des-cyberattaques-le-canada-doit-collaborate-avec-les-experts-en-cybersecurite-et-non-leur-nuire-165343