America's CEOs Call For 'More Intelligent, More Effective Cybersecurity Protection'

PRESS RELEASE

Washington – With the Administration and Congress poised to act, the CEOs of America's leading companies today laid out a strategy to protect U.S. economic and national security from growing global cybersecurity threats. The CEOs – whose companies invest heavily to protect the networks their businesses rely on – outline their plan for developing a more modern, flexible and collaborative approach to protecting America's strategic information assets in the new Business Roundtable (BRT) report, "More Intelligent, More Effective Cybersecurity Protection."

"Safeguarding America's strategic information systems, most of which are privately owned and operated, is a top priority for U.S. business," said Ajay Banga, President and CEO of MasterCard Worldwide, and Chair of the BRT Information and Technology Committee. "But, to counter growing threats, we need intelligence and tools from government that only government can provide."

America's CEOs are calling for modern, adaptable public-private partnerships to detect, deter and mitigate threats to the nation's strategic information systems. To further enhance the efforts of the private sector, the BRT report outlines the key elements of an effective cybersecurity policy beginning with the single most important element: information sharing.

"The robust, two-way exchange of information, supported by appropriate legal and privacy protections, will improve public-private risk management, and ultimately, improve the security of the nation's cyber assets," said Banga.

The BRT report outlines the building blocks of more effective public-private collaboration to reduce cybersecurity risks, and it details the commitments CEOs are prepared to make to further strengthen America's cybersecurity protections, including:

· Investing in the infrastructure necessary to receive shared threat information;

· Developing the capabilities required to integrate cybersecurity threat and risk information into CEO risk management; and

· Recommending that boards of directors, as part of their risk oversight functions, continue to periodically review management's business resiliency plans, including cybersecurity.

Click here to view the report.