Google hails Kamala Harris' call to double down on cybersecurity

San Francisco, Nov 12:  Google has welcomed the announcement by US Vice President Kamala Harris that the country is expanding its efforts to advance international cooperation in cybersecurity by joining the Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace.

The Paris Call for Trust and Security in Cyberspace is a voluntary commitment to work with the international community to advance cybersecurity and preserve the open, interoperable, secure, and reliable Internet.

Google was among the first signatories to the Paris Call in 2018 when it was initially advanced by French President Emmanuel Macron.

"The Paris Call's nine principles are something we should all agree to, but it is past time to put them into action. Google has unique expertise supporting many of these principles," the company said on Thursday.

The decision to support the Paris Call reflects the Biden-Harris Administration's priority to renew and strengthen America's engagement with the international community on cyber issues, according to the White House.

The global Solarwinds software attack underscored the real risks and ramifications of supply chain attacks.

"In that vein, we are doubling down to develop solutions to protect users, organisations, and society. Earlier this year, we announced that we will invest 10 billion dollars over the next five years to advance cybersecurity," said Google.

Google has also pledged to provide 100 million dollars to support third-party foundations, like OpenSSF, that manage open source security priorities and help fix vulnerabilities.

"By the end of 2021, we plan to auto-enrol an additional 150 million Google users in two-step verification and require 2 million YouTube creators to turn it on," the tech giant mentioned.