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White House Cybersecurity Czar Named
Doug Caverly
Staff Writer
2009-12-22
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The position of White House Cybersecurity Coordinator has finally been filled. Earlier this week, Howard Schmidt was awarded the job, and initial reactions to his appointment have been quite positive.
 | | White House Cybersecurity Czar Named |  |
Schmidt's resume is almost impossible to criticize. He has ties to Carnegie Mellon's CyLab, the Georgia Institute of Technology's GTISC, Idaho State University, and the Ponemon Institute, signaling that he's very intelligent.
Furthermore, he spent a handful of years in the Air Force, and served as a police officer for over a decade. He's worked for both Microsoft and eBay, too, and in between, filled a cybersecurity-related role for George W. Bush. Meaning he's not exactly a bookworm with no real-world experience.
Schmidt has appeared on all sorts of talk shows and authored a couple of books, as well, so he's proven capable of communicating with people and handling the spotlight with little trouble.
Now, as John Brennan, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism, explained on the White House Blog, "Howard will have regular access to the President and serve as a key member of his National Security Staff. He will also work closely with his economic team to ensure that our cybersecurity efforts keep the Nation secure and prosperous."
And Schmidt looks ready to take his duties very seriously. In a video introduction (also posted on the White House Blog and available for download), he characterized online threats as "one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation."
Let's hope some helpful measures will be introduced as a result of this development.
About the Author:
Doug is a staff writer for SecurityProNews, InternetFinancialNews, SearchNewz, and WebProNews.
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