Bush's "cybersecurity" czar to resign

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

President's Top IT Security Adviser To Resign


White House cybersecurity adviser Howard Schmidt will resign from his post
at the end of the month, raising concerns about the Bush administration's
commitment to implementing its strategy for protecting the nation's critical
information infrastructure.

Several friends and close associates of Schmidt said he had informed them of
his plans to leave the White House. The former chief of security at
Microsoft Corp., Schmidt became chair of the President's Critical
Infrastructure Protection Board in February following the departure of his
predecessor, Richard Clarke.

Schmidt played a key role in drafting the administration's recently released
cybersecurity strategy, and has spent the last two years building ties with
the private sector in a joint effort to protect the nation's most important
information systems from cyber-attack. He had been negotiating to become
cybersecurity adviser to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, but his
effort fell through, according to friends and associates interviewed for
this story. 

Schmidt's imminent departure would leave the administration without a
high-ranking official solely in charge of cybersecurity, at a time when many
observers are criticizing the White House for shifting attention and
resources away from the issue.

"Industry understands this is an important issue. Congress and the president
have said [it is too], yet the department has no senior level official
working full-time on the issue," Clarke said. Failing to appoint a
cybersecurity adviser at Homeland Security "reflects a total lack of
intellectual understanding of the issue on the part of the people working
for Ridge," he said.

In January, the administration consolidated the work of five federal
cybersecurity offices into the Homeland Security Department, but it remains
unclear how those divisions will work together or whether they have adequate
resources to carry out their mission.

Full responsibility for cybersecurity matters currently rests with Robert
Liscouski, a former Coca-Cola executive who was recently named assistant
secretary of infrastructure protection at the Homeland Security Department.
Liscouski's portfolio includes both cybersecurity and protecting the
nation's vital physical assets from attack. Given the scope of the physical
infrastructure challenge, some observers have said cybersecurity matters
will be overlooked.

"The great irony here is that we have President Bush doing what Clinton
refused to do -­ namely giving cybersecurity incredibly high prominence in
naming a personal assistant to the president and issuing a national
cybersecurity strategy," said Harris Miller, president of the Information
Technology Association of America.

"Yet, a few weeks after the strategy's release, all of the leadership (on
cybersecurity) disappears. There are some very serious consequences of that
in terms of the lack of leadership, because a lot of what needs to be done
requires a full time cheerleader."

After Clarke's departure from the White House in February, the
administration announced that it was abolishing the Critical Infrastructure
Board and transferring its duties to the Department of Homeland Security.
That move did not eliminate Schmidt's role as White House cybersecurity
adviser, though it did eliminate his responsibility for leading the board.

Schmidt declined to comment for this story. White House and DHS officials
did not return calls seeking comment.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A52162-2003Apr18.html



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