These Tech CEOs Skipped Obama's Big Cyber Summit
Source: Cadie Thompson
There were some notable tech CEOs missing at President Barack Obama's big cybersecurity summit on Friday.
Google CEO Larry Page, Yahoo's CEO Marissa Mayer and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg were all absent from the White House cybersecurity and consumer protection event. While these company leaders did not attend, they did send other representatives.
The relationship between the government and Silicon Valley tech companies like Google has been strained ever since 2013 when Edward Snowden, an ex-government contractor, revealed that the National Security Agency was accessing huge amounts of data from tech companies for mass surveillance.
Since the Snowden revelations, tech companies have increasingly invested in new security measures to keep the government from using their data without their knowledge.
However, as cyberthreats mount, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said at the event that it is more critical now than ever that the tech industry and the government keep an open dialogue.
"In this, dare I say, post-Snowden environment it is key for us, it is critical for us, to strengthen the dialogue, to continue the dialogue, and that's much of what this conference is about," Johnson said.
Company chiefs that were in attendance included Apple CEO Tim Cook, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich and MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga.
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