WH to name Schmidt Cybersecurity Advisor

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

> From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
> Date: December 21, 2009 8:25:43 PM EST
> To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> Subject: Fwd: WH to name Schmidt Cybersecurity Advisor

> News Alert
> 07:20 PM EST Monday, December 21, 2009
>
> White House expected to name new cybersecurity coordinator
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/12/21/AR2009122103055.html
>
> President Obama expected to name former Bush adviser cybersecurity  
> czar
> By Ellen Nakashima
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Monday, December 21, 2009; 7:16 PM
>
> Seven months after President Obama vowed to "personally select" an  
> adviser to orchestrate the government's strategy for protecting  
> computer systems, the White House is expected to name a former Bush  
> administration adviser to the job as early as Tuesday.
>
> Howard A. Schmidt, who was a cyber adviser in President George W.  
> Bush's White House, will be Obama's new cybersecurity coordinator,  
> according to two sources with knowledge of the move who spoke on the  
> condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak on  
> the record.
>
> The White House did not return calls and e-mails seeking comment.  
> Schmidt declined to comment.
>
> Schmidt's mission is challenging: to coordinate cybersecurity policy  
> across the federal government, from the military to the civilian  
> agencies. The step comes as the Pentagon is getting a major new  
> "cyber-command" unit up and running and the Department of Homeland  
> Security is working to improve its protection of civilian networks.
>
> In May, Obama declared the nation's digital networks a "strategic  
> national asset" and said protecting them would be a "national  
> security priority." Creating a White House cybersecurity office, to  
> be headed by a senior White House official, would be key to that  
> effort, he said. "I'll depend on this official in all matters  
> relating to cybersecurity, and this official will have my full  
> support and regular access to me as we confront these challenges,"  
> he said from the East Room.
>
> But his remarks were undercut by internal tension over how much  
> authority the "cyber-czar" would have and to whom the official would  
> report. In the end, White House economic adviser Lawrence H. Summers  
> insisted that the new coordinator, who will be anchored in the  
> National Security Council and report to the national security  
> adviser, report to him as well, sources said. Summers argued that  
> cybersecurity is also a matter of national economic security, they  
> said.
>
> Schmidt was chosen after an months-long process in which dozens of  
> people were sounded out and many declined, largely out of concern  
> that the job conferred much responsibility with little true  
> authority, some of them said. Meanwhile, the cybersecurity chief at  
> the National Security Council, Christopher Painter, has served as  
> the de facto coordinator, trying to push ahead the plan 60-day  
> cyberspace policy review plan unveiled by Obama in May. That plan's  
> formulation was led by Melissa Hathaway, who resigned in frustration  
> in August after delays in naming the cyber coordinator. She had been  
> a contender for the position, which does not require Senate  
> confirmation.
>
> Schmidt served as special adviser for cyberspace security from 2001  
> to 2003 and during that time shepherded the National Strategy to  
> Secure Cyberspace, a plan that then was largely ignored. He left  
> that job also frustrated, colleagues said.
>
> Schmidt's résumé reflects experience in the private sector, law enfo 
> rcement and government. Before he joined the White House the first t 
> ime, he worked as chief security officer at Microsoft. After leaving 
> , he became vice president and chief information security officer at 
>  eBay. He served in the Air Force from 1967 to 1983 in various roles 
> , both active-duty and civilian, and headed the computer exploitatio 
> n team at the FBI's National Drug Intelligence Center in the 1990s.
>
> Today he is president of the Information Security Forum, a nonprofit  
> consortium of 300 of the world's largest corporations and public  
> sector bodies working to resolve cybercrime and cybersecurity issues.
>
> "He has many of the qualities and connections that one would think  
> would be good for the position," said a colleague who asked not be  
> identified in order to speak candidly. "He is a team player. I don't  
> have high expectations for that position as it is currently defined,  
> so he's very possibly overqualified for it."
>
> Staff researcher Eddy Palanzo contributed to this report.



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