The United States and the United Kingdom began to lay out a plan to bolster the cyber defense of both nations on Friday, as President Barack Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron answered questions from the press at the White House in Washington, D.C.
The nations plan to share more online intelligence, conduct joint cyber-defense drills, fund more security research and build a new joint unit to strengthen their security against digital threats.
"Every day foreign governments, criminals, and hackers are attempting to probe, intrude into, and attack government and private sector systems in both of our countries," a White House statement said. "President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron have both made clear that domestic cybersecurity requires cooperation between governments and the private sector."
Part of the statement focused on sharing intelligence. During the press conference, Obama zeroed in on gathering information from social media.
“Social media and the Internet is the primary way terrorists communicate," Obama said. "No different than anyone else, but they’re good at it.”
Pres Obama defends trying to track extremist social media in "ways that are legal" and "conforms with due process."— Mark Knoller (@markknoller) January 16, 2015
The two sides agreed to combine British agents from MI5 and Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) with officials from the FBI and the NSA to create a "joint cyber cell" that will work in both countries.
But they don't appear to agree on everything. Cameron has previously outlined a plan to allow government access to encryption services -- something that Obama seemed to avoid supporting.
.@David_Cameron wants to stave off cyber attacks -- while also seeking to weaken encryption.— Jack Gillum (@jackgillum) January 16, 2015
Obama talked a lot about surveillance, but sounded like he purposefully avoided getting behind @David_Cameron's plan to outlaw encryption.— Trevor Timm (@trevortimm) January 16, 2015
To jumpstart more research into the problem, the White House is promoting a cybersecurity competition between the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge. The coming online battle was dubbed "Cambridge vs. Cambridge," a nod to the names of the two cities where these schools are located.