Obama names former Bush official Howard Schmidt as cyber czar
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Howard A. Schmidt, a former Bush administration official, will become President Obama’s cyber czar, the White House announced this morning.
Schmidt is currently chief executive officer of the Information Security Forum, a London-based nonprofit computer security trade association. He formerly served as a security expert at EBay Inc. and Microsoft Corp.
“Howard is one of the world’s leading authorities on computer security, with some 40 years of experience in government, business and law enforcement,” John O. Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counter-terrorism, wrote in an announcement posted on the White House blog.
As cyber czar, Schmidt will be in charge of developing a security plan for government agencies to prevent hacking. Obama has argued that computer networks are strategic assets and that security is a priority.
-- Michael Muskal
