WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama will host a cybersecurity roundtable at Stanford University in the heart of California’s Silicon Valley on February 13, the White House Press Secretary’s office announced in a statement.
“The President will travel to Palo Alto [California] to deliver remarks at the White House Summit on Cybersecurity and Consumer Protection at Stanford University,” the statement, issued on Monday, said. “Following the President's remarks, the President will host a roundtable with business leaders.”
The president will discuss ways to shape public and private sector efforts to protect American consumers and companies from growing cyber threats, while specifically addressing secure payment technologies, improving authentication and international law enforcement cooperation, the statement said.
On February 9, Obama proposed investing $14 billion in cybersecurity as part of its 2016 budget proposal. In January, Obama announced a new cybersecurity legislative proposal which encourages private companies to share cyber threat information with government agencies to protect them from hacker attacks.
Throughout 2014 numerous US public and private institutions were hit with cyberattacks including SONY Pictures Entertainment Inc., financial giant JP Morgan and US federal agencies such as the US State Department and US Central Command.
Silicon Valley, the nickname for the southern portion of the San Francisco Bay area where Stanford University is located, is a term that originally referred to the region’s large number of silicon chip innovators and manufacturers. Silicon Valley is the world’s leading hub for numerous types of high-tech businesses, including chipmakers, computer manufacturers, software developers and internet technology companies.
