From the White House:  President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron reaffirmed the vital partnership between our two nations on cybersecurity.  Recognizing there are few areas where partnership across borders is more urgent or necessary, the President and Prime Minister noted with satisfaction the deep level of cooperation that exists between the United States and the United Kingdom in ensuring networked technologies continue to empower our societies and economies, and those around the globe. . . .

We recognize that today, our economic security and network security are inextricable; therefore, we must do a better job of sharing cybersecurity information between industry and our two governments, while continuing to safeguard the privacy and civil liberties of citizens that are the hallmarks of open and democratic societies.  In the UK a new project is underway that enables companies in key sectors of the economy to exchange and act on cyber threat information, and to work with each other and government to develop long term cybersecurity solutions.  In the U.S., Federal agencies are building trusted relationships with critical sectors for sharing cyber threat information founded upon sound information handling policies and oversight. In addition, the Obama Administration has proposed a new statutory framework to further facilitate the exchange of cyber threat information between the public and private sectors, with strong protections for privacy and civil liberties. The Administration is committed to working with Congress to see such legislation enacted. . . .

We cannot be secure in cyberspace without sharing with one another the knowledge of the threats we face, and our policies for confronting them.  As the United States and the United Kingdom continue developing joint capabilities that support our national security interests in cyberspace, we are sharing more and more incident data to help us and our allies counter advanced persistent threats.  We are also actively testing our National Cyber Incident Response plans through joint exercises; and this year we will step up our joint planning across government in order to anticipate and prepare for future challenges in cyberspace.

Finally, we recognize that we must stay one step ahead of cybersecurity threats by investing in cutting-edge research, and pooling our resources across borders.  To help ensure our nations remain at the forefront of the information economy, the United States and the United Kingdom have launched a trilateral initiative with Australia to fund new research and development for improved cybersecurity.  The international partners will jointly request research proposals, conduct joint reviews, and provide coordinated funding and support to pull-through of the resultant technologies. 

Excerpts from Joint Fact Sheet: U.S.-UK Progress Towards a Freer and More Secure Cyberspace.  (photo: Getty)

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