34 Companies Pledge to Fight Cybercrimes in Cybersecurity Tech Accord

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), HP (NYSE:HPQ) and Nokia are amongst 34 companies that signed the new Cybersecurity Tech Accord on Tuesday (April 17).

They have agreed to defend all customers from malicious attacks by cybercriminal enterprises and nation states.

The companies that have signed the agreement have made commitments in four areas, namely: stronger defense, no offense, capacity building and collective action.

According to a report from Juniper Research that was published in 2017, most victims of cyberattacks are businesses and organizations of all sizes, with economic losses expected to reach $8 trillion by 2022.

“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 Brad Smith, Microsoft president, said in the Cybersecurity Tech Accord press release. “This tech sector accord will help us take a principled path towards more effective steps to work together and defend customers around the world.”

One of the major points of the agreement was that the organizations have pledged to protect users under the “no offense” category from the governments that want to launch cyberattacks against innocent citizens and enterprises. It states that companies will protect citizens against tampering or exploitation of their products and services through every stage of technology development, design and distribution.

Another highlight is “capacity building,” where the companies will do more to empower developers, people and businesses that use their technology, and also help them improve their capacity for protecting themselves. This may include joint work on new security practises and new features that the companies can deploy in their individual products and services.

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

The agreement also states that the companies will build on existing relationships and establish new formal and informal partnerships under “collective action” to improve technical collaboration and coordinate vulnerability disclosures, share threats and also minimize the potential for malicious code to be introduced into cyberspace.

It was also further clarified in a press release that the companies may have adhered to some or all of these principles prior to the accord, or may have adhered without a public commitment; however, this agreement represents a public shared commitment to collaborate on cybersecurity efforts.

Carolyn Herzog, general counsel of Arm, said that the tech accord will help to protect the integrity of the 1 trillion connected devices that are expected to be deployed within the next 20 years.

“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,” she said.

The companies that signed the accord are planning to hold their first meeting during the RSA conference that is currently underway in San Francisco, with a focus on capacity building and collective action.

Notable companies that have signed the accord include: Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), FireEye (NASDAQ:FEYE), HP (NYSE:HPQ), Juniper Networks (NYSE:JNPR), Oracle (NYSE:ORCL), Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC) and VMware (NYSE:VMW). For the full list of companies, refer to the press release linked to above.

Following Tuesday’s announcement, shares of Facebook jumped 2.32 percent, and the stock was trading at $168.66 at market close. Shares of CISCO jumped close to 3 percent and were trading at $44.59.

Juniper Networks had jumped 1.68 percent and was trading at $25.41, while shares of Oracle were up 1.32 percent and were trading at $46.66. Shares of Symantec jumped up 0.61 percent and were trading at $27.92. Finally, shares of VMware jumped 3.22 percent and were being traded at $131.88.

Despite recent controversies, Facebook’s shares price is edging towards a one-month high, while of Juniper Networks, Cisco, Symantec and VMware are at one month-highs.

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Securities Disclosure: I, Bala Yogesh, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.