After months of wrangling and delays, US President Barack Obama has chosen a national cybersecurity coordinator to take on the formidable task of organizing and managing the nation’s increasingly vulnerable digital networks.
Obama has tapped Howard Schmidt, a long-time computer security executive who worked in the administration of former US president George W. Bush and has extensive ties to the corporate world, said a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement was not to be made until yesterday.
Schmidt’s selection comes more than 10 months after Obama declared cybersecurity a priority and ordered a broad administration review.
The official said Obama was personally involved in the selection process and chose Schmidt after an extensive search because of his unique background and skills. Schmidt will have regular and direct access to the president for cybersecurity issues, the official said.
Obama released the findings of the cybersecurity review nearly seven months ago, vowing that the White House would name a cyber coordinator to deal with one of the “most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation.”
Corporate computer security leaders have openly expressed frustration with the White House as movement on the job post stalled and questioned the administration’s claims that the issue was a priority.
At the same time, cyber experts and potential job candidates have complained that the position lacks the budgetary and policymaking authority needed to be successful. Schmidt will report to the National Security Council and closely support the National Economic Council (NEC) on cyber issues.
“From the industry’s perspective, a lot of people are starting to think that other pressing matters in Afghanistan and other issues put this on a back burner,” said Roger Thornton, chief technology officer for Fortify Software, and a cybersecurity expert. “If it is, that’s understandable but depressing.”
Schmidt’s selection suggests that economic and business interests in the White House held more sway in the selection process. Schmidt, president and CEO of the Information Security Forum, a nonprofit international consortium that conducts research in information security, has served as chief security officer for Microsoft and as cybersecurity chief for online auction giant eBay. He was reportedly preferred by NEC Director Lawrence Summers.
Thornton praised Schmidt’s choice, saying the coordinator has to be strong on many different dimensions.
He said Schmidt understands the technology, has broad management experience and also has worked well within the political arena, a key requirement for the White House post.
“I think he would be able to get people to compromise and move things forward,” Thornton said.
US government computer systems are constantly under assault, and are being attacked or scanned millions of times a day. Hackers and cyber criminals pose an expanding threat, using increasingly sophisticated technologies to steal money or information, while nation-states probe for weaknesses in order to steal classified documents or technology or destroy the networks that run vital services.
The nation’s cybersecurity vulnerabilities have been underscored in recent months, with a number of high profile assaults, including ones that breached a high-tech fighter jet program and the electrical grid, although no classified material was compromised.
Early last month, unknown hackers knocked a number of US and South Korean government Web sites off line in a widespread and unusually resilient computer attack.
Considered an expert in computer forensics, Schmidt’s roughly 40-year career includes 31 years in local and federal government service, including a stint as vice chairman of Bush’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board. He was also for a short time an adviser to the FBI and worked at the National Drug Intelligence Center.
Archeologists in Peru on Thursday said they found the 5,000-year-old remains of a noblewoman at the sacred city of Caral, revealing the important role played by women in the oldest center of civilization in the Americas. “What has been discovered corresponds to a woman who apparently had elevated status, an elite woman,” archeologist David Palomino said. The mummy was found in Aspero, a sacred site within the city of Caral that was a garbage dump for more than 30 years until becoming an archeological site in the 1990s. Palomino said the carefully preserved remains, dating to 3,000BC, contained skin, part of the
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to
TRUMP EFFECT: The win capped one of the most dramatic turnarounds in Canadian political history after the Conservatives had led the Liberals by more than 20 points Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney yesterday pledged to win US President Donald Trump’s trade war after winning Canada’s election and leading his Liberal Party to another term in power. Following a campaign dominated by Trump’s tariffs and annexation threats, Carney promised to chart “a new path forward” in a world “fundamentally changed” by a US that is newly hostile to free trade. “We are over the shock of the American betrayal, but we should never forget the lessons,” said Carney, who led the central banks of Canada and the UK before entering politics earlier this year. “We will win this trade war and
Armed with 4,000 eggs and a truckload of sugar and cream, French pastry chefs on Wednesday completed a 121.8m-long strawberry cake that they have claimed is the world’s longest ever made. Youssef El Gatou brought together 20 chefs to make the 1.2 tonne masterpiece that took a week to complete and was set out on tables in an ice rink in the Paris suburb town of Argenteuil for residents to inspect. The effort overtook a 100.48m-long strawberry cake made in the Italian town of San Mauro Torinese in 2019. El Gatou’s cake also used 350kg of strawberries, 150kg of sugar and 415kg of