Google And Apple Absent From Cybersecurity Tech Accord That Facebook And Microsoft Signed

Technology companies are making the pledge to protect customers from cyberattacks, as well as making sure they don’t help governments advance their cyber warfare efforts.

The Cybersecurity Tech Accord is a “watershed agreement” signed by 34 tech companies: ABB, Arm, Avast, Bitdefender, BT, CA Technologies, Cisco, Cloudflare, DataStax, Dell, DocuSign, Facebook, Fastly, FireEye, F-Secure, GitHub, Guardtime, HP Inc., HPE, Intuit, Juniper Networks, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Nielsen, Nokia, Oracle, RSA, SAP, Stripe, Symantec, Telefonica, Tenable, Trend Micro, and VMware.

“The devastating attacks from the past year demonstrate that cybersecurity is not just about what any single company can do, but also about what we can all do together,” said Microsoft President Brad Smith. “This tech sector accord will help us take a principled path towards more effective steps to work together and defend customers around the world.”

It’s important to note the absence of Apple, Amazon, Twitter, and Google, though the Tech Accord “remains open to consideration of new private sector signatories, large or small and regardless of sector,” according to the press release.

Cyberattacks are expected to cost businesses and organizations $8 trillion by 2022. And recent cyberattacks have closed down small businesses, delayed medical services at hospitals, closed down government services, and more.

“The real-world consequences of cyber threats have been repeatedly proven. As an industry, we must band together to fight cybercriminals and stop future attacks from causing even more damage,” said Kevin Simzer, COO of Trend Micro.

The companies have made a commitment in four key areas: stronger defense against cyberattacks; the vow to not help governments launch cyberattacks against citizens and enterprises; doing more to empower developers and the people and businesses that use their technology; and building on existing relationships and establishing new partnerships to improve collaboration, share threats and minimize the potential for cyberattacks.

“The Tech Accord will help to protect the integrity of the one trillion connected devices we expect to see deployed within the next 20 years,” said Carolyn Herzog, general counsel at Arm. “It aligns the resources, expertise and thinking of some of the world’s most important technology companies to help to build a trusted foundation for technology users who will benefit immensely from a more security connected world.”