A new bill has been introduced to increase cybersecurity cooperation between the US and Abraham Accords countries (Including Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Morocco).
The bill, which was introduced by a bipartisan group of senators, focuses especially on improvising critical security infrastructure and defending against ransomware attacks.
Over the last few years, data breaches, ransomware attacks, and threat actors have been more active than ever — so much so that even the CEOs of large companies have pivoted to cybersecurity in lieu of seeking larger profits. This new bill would help protect against all of these cyber threats from countries like Iran and other hostile cyber actors.
“In support of the goals of the Abraham Accords and in furtherance of the mission of the Department of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Homeland Security, in consultation with the Secretary of State, may engage in activities to strengthen network defense and cybersecurity collaboration between Abraham Accords countries and the United States in order to, while protecting human rights and respect for civil rights, civil liberties, and individual privacy, address shared cybersecurity threats, including nation state targeting of critical infrastructure and ransomware attacks,” the bill states.
This partnership was announced back in February when the US declared it would expand its cooperation and cybersecurity efforts with the Abraham Accords countries, all of which are important international allies to the US.
The law in question would serve to strengthen this partnership by conducting joint cybersecurity training and exercises to better navigate threats, as well as authorizing information-sharing and technical support for cyber emergencies, giving Abraham Accords nations significantly more resources to defend themselves with.
The bipartisan support shown for the bill helps illustrate how important cybersecurity is in the modern world. Multiple senators who are a part of the Abraham Accords countries signed off on it, including Sens. Jacky Rosen (D), Cory Booker (D), Kirsten Gillibrand (D), Joni Ernst (R), and James Lankford (R).