Howard Schmidt Named Cyber Security Coordinator

It seems like Obama may have picked a new czar based on his skillset instead of inability to pay taxes or be a leftist activist. Howard Schmidt is now the Cyber Czar, which seems to be a position that reports to the NSA.

From FoxNews here:

After months of wrangling and delays, President Barack Obama has chosen a national cyber security coordinator to take on the formidable task of organizing and managing the nation’s increasingly vulnerable digital networks.

Obama has tapped Howard A. Schmidt, longtime computer security executive who worked in the Bush administration and has extensive ties to the corporate world, according to a senior White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement will not be made until Tuesday.

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 cyber security chief for online auction giant eBay. He was reportedly preferred by NEC director Lawrence Summers.

I don’t know how this new position will relate to National Cyber Security Division and US-CERT, but Schmidt definitely brings experience to the position. But then again, does he have the stomach for endless bureaucratic bickering and backstabbing that has driven out all the other cyber czars? If he lasts until 2012 I will be shocked.