First U.S.-Switzerland Cybersecurity Dialogue

On July 9, 2020, U.S. Ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein Edward T. McMullen, Jr. hosted the Swiss Special Envoy for Cyber Foreign and Security Policy, Jon Albert Fanzun, and the Swiss Cybersecurity Delegate and Head of the National Cybersecurity Centre, Florian Schütz, for the first U.S.-Switzerland Cybersecurity Dialogue at the U.S. Embassy in Bern. The U.S. delegation included Senior Director for Cyber and Deputy Assistant to the President Joshua Steinman; Department of Justice Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz; Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk, and Resilience Policy Sam Kaplan; as well as a number of Cyber officials from the Department of Defense, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Department of State. The Swiss delegation included the Federal Office of Communications; the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sports; the Federal Police; the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs; and the Embassy of Switzerland in Washington, D.C. The two sides had in-depth conversations about 5G security, law enforcement cooperation on cybercrime, protecting communications infrastructure, and cybersecurity during COVID-19. They affirmed ongoing bilateral cooperation in several areas of cybersecurity and agreed this Dialogue could be a meaningful platform to build on the various cyber consultations and engagements to date.