Cyberbiosecurity Threats Headline Next Meeting of Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Steve Aaron
SRA Communications
(717) 554-8614
steve@SRACommunications.com
CYBERBIOSECURITY THREATS HEADLINE NEXT MEETING OF BIPARTISAN COMMISSION ON BIODEFENSE
Deputy Assistant to the President for Technology and National Security, Dr. Jason Matheny, among those scheduled to participate
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 21, 2021) – The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense will premiere a virtual meeting on Tuesday, June 22, to provide the Commission with a better understanding of cyberbiosecurity threats and vulnerabilities. The meeting, Biologia et Machina: Cyberbiosecurity for Today’s Hybrid Evolution, will build on the Commission’s earlier work to explore opportunities and solutions to address today’s threats, and the role of the federal government in securing the future. The Commission believes it is imperative to continually evaluate cyberbio threats and vulnerabilities to keep pace with these two domains as their convergence accelerates.
“America ignores biological threats until they take lives. Our country also often ignores cybersecurity threats until they cost us money. Cyberbiosecurity threats are one step removed and are that much easier to ignore. But we ignore them at our peril,” said former Senator and Commission Co-Chair Joe Lieberman. “Thirty years ago, we should have predicted the emergence of cybersecurity threats, recognizing that they would increase rapidly. We should have taken biosecurity threats more seriously back then, too, predicting the same. Now, as we see the cyber and bio domains converge, we can easily predict that cyberbio events and attacks are going to increasingly threaten our lives and livelihoods.”
The meeting will be released virtually on June 22 beginning at 10am. Among those appearing at the public meeting are Jason G. Matheny, PhD, Deputy Assistant to the President for Technology and National Security; Deputy Director for National Security, Office of Science and Technology Policy; Coordinator for Technology and National Security, National Security Council and Susan E. Duncan, PhD, Director, Center for Advanced Innovation in Agriculture, Virginia Tech.
To see the full list of panelists and to register to receive the link to the virtual meeting tomorrow morning, please visit this meeting’s event page on the Commission website.
Editor’s Note: Journalists interested in interviews should contact Steve Aaron by emailing steve@SRACommunications.com.
About the Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense
The Bipartisan Commission on Biodefense was established in 2014 to conduct a comprehensive assessment of the state of U.S. biodefense efforts, and to issue recommendations to foster change. The Panel’s 2015 report, A National Blueprint for Biodefense: Leadership and Major Reform Needed to Optimize Efforts, identified capability gaps and recommended changes to U.S. policy and law to strengthen national biodefense while optimizing resource investments. Subsequent Commission publications have addressed critical needs for agrodefense, biodefense budgeting, and State, Local, Tribal and Territorial capabilities. In September 2018, the White House released the National Biodefense Strategy, a top recommendation from the Blueprint. The Commission continues to address biodefense challenges and to urge reform. Former Senator Joe Lieberman and former Governor Tom Ridge co-chair the Commission, and are joined by former HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, former Representative Jim Greenwood, and former Homeland Security Advisor Ken Wainstein. Hudson Institute is the Commission’s fiscal sponsor.