US leads 20 corporates on cyber security mission

Facing a common threat of cyber attacks emanating from Russia and elsewhere in eastern Europe, a top US Commerce Department official is leading a cyber security trade mission to Romania and Poland this week to discuss ways to bolster defences.

Deputy Commerce Secretary Bruce Andrews and 20 US companies ranging from Microsoft to Lockheed Martin to cyber security firm FireEye will participate in the trip starting on Monday.

Romania and Poland are already strong military allies to the US. But increasingly, all three countries are facing cyber threats often coming from Russia or elsewhere in the region, prompting the US to look for ways to help ensure its defence allies are just as strong in cyber security.

"Poland and Romania have a very tech savvy population and they are also in a challenging neighbourhood when it comes to cyber threats, both from a nation state and cyber crime perspective," Mr Andrews told the Financial Times. "The nation states in their neighbourhood are pretty aggressive. So we want to help make sure that we and our allies have the necessary regime in place to deal with the cyber threats."

US companies on the trip will look to establish or expand their market presence in central and eastern Europe, while also sharing best practices on fighting cyber attacks. Part of the focus of the visit will be on protecting critical infrastructure, as more of it moves online.

Last year, energy companies in the US, Poland and Romania, along with Spain, France and Italy, were targeted by hackers known as "Dragonfly," who are believed to be from Russia.

Poland, Romania and other countries in the region will also discuss ways they can share information about cyber threats as part of a cyber security summit hosted by Romania.

"The only way to defend against malicious actors is to do it collaboratively. If you try to do it on your own, you are only going to see one piece of the picture," said Mike Buratowski, vice-president of cyber security services at Maryland-based Fidelis and trip participant.

Fidelis helped Romania conduct a feasibility study to develop a cyber security innovation centre, which would act as a clearinghouse on recommended cyber defence technology. The study was part of a grant awarded last year to Romania's computer security incident response organisation by the US Trade and Development Agency.

The Commerce Department plays a leading role in setting cyber security standards through the National Institute of Standards and Technology's cyber framework. Experts from NIST will also be on the trip to promote the framework as an international model for cyber standards.

© The Financial Times Limited 2015. All rights reserved.
FT and Financial Times are trademarks of the Financial Times Ltd.
Not to be redistributed, copied or modified in any way.
Euro2day.gr is solely responsible for providing this translation and the Financial Times Limited does not accept any liability for the accuracy or quality of the translation