More global leaders are making ransomware defense a priority, and that could carry with it positive implications for cybersecurity assets, including the First Trust Nasdaq Cybersecurity ETF (CIBR).
Last week, the White House hosted the Counter Ransomware Initiative, a two-day conference that brought together 30 global leaders to discuss bolstering defenses against what they view as rising cybersecurity threats. The event was held in the midst of National Cybersecurity Month.
“As with other cyber threats, the threat of ransomware is complex and global in nature and requires a shared response,” the leaders wrote. “A nation’s ability to effectively prevent, detect, mitigate and respond to threats from ransomware will depend, in part, on the capacity, cooperation, and resilience of global partners, the private sector, civil society, and the general public.”
As governments up spending on cybersecurity, CIBR and its member firms are poised to benefit. While corporate customers — also vital in the cybersecurity spending equation — can limit spending depending on economic conditions, following a series of large-scale cyberattacks, governments don’t have that luxury.
CIBR, which is more than six years old, follows the Nasdaq CTA Cybersecurity Index. CIBR’s 36 holdings are “companies primarily involved in the building, implementation, and management of security protocols applied to private and public networks, computers, and mobile devices in order to provide protection of the integrity of data and network operations,” according to First Trust.
Even before the Counter Ransomware Initiative meeting, the White House had been making moves to bolster cyber defenses.
“Prior to the meeting, the Biden administration had already taken a range of actions to address ransomware attacks, including the Justice Department standing up a ransomware task force in April, and the Department of Homeland Security making fighting these attacks one of its top priorities,” reports Maggie Miller for The Hill.
Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but CIBR jumped more than 5% last week, closing near all-time highs on Oct. 15. The fund is higher by almost 18% year-to-date and nearly 41% over the past year. Adding to the potential of the long-term spending are the governments that participated in the conference, some of which have deep pockets and obvious cybersecurity needs.
“Ministers and representatives from the U.S., Australia, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, the Czech Republic, the Dominican Republic, Estonia, the European Union, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Poland, South Korea, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom participated,” according to The Hill.
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