The National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence on Monday formally established partnerships with 11 major companies, including Intel, HP, Symantec, Microsoft Federal Civilian Services and McAfee.
As part of the collaboration, the companies pledged April 15 to contribute hardware and software components as well as share best practices and personnel with the center.
“Cybersecurity is one of the toughest technical challenges facing the nation today,” said Patrick Gallagher, undersecretary at the Commerce Department and director at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. “NIST looks forward to working with these top private-sector companies and our state and federal partners in Maryland to help the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence jumpstart its work to better protect our vital IT infrastructure and business information.”
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), Gen. Keith Alexander, commander at U.S. Cyber Command and director at the National Security Agency, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Montgomery County chief executive Isiah Leggett joined Gallagher at the ceremony.
The center is a public-private partnership hosted by NIST. It works with experts from industry, academia and government to find practical solutions for businesses’ most-pressing cybersecurity needs.
Established in 2012, the NCCoE serves as a testbed where users and vendors can collaborate on new ideas and technologies prior to deployment.
This partnership is just the latest in collaboration for the center.
“Cyber threats cut across networks, borders and sectors, and leaders in government and industry must work together to help protect the nation’s critical infrastructure and information,” Alexander said. “No one organization can do the job alone. NSA supports NIST’s efforts to partner with industry to tackle cyber challenges. NIST has been a great partner to work with, and we know they will be great partners on the National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence.”
Other companies signing the pledge include Cisco Systems Inc., HyTrust Inc., RSA, Splunk Inc., Vanguard Integrity Professionals and Venafi Inc.
