Does the US need a new Cyber Czar?
Back in August, Melissa Hathaway, President Barack Obama's appointed cybersecurity czar, announced her resignation, citing personal reasons. The resignation was regarded by many as a setback for Obama's ambitious cybersecurity plans that he outlined early in his presidency. Despite these setbacks, White House spokesman Nicholas Shapiro said that cybersecurity is "a major priority for the president" and stressed that they are "pursuing a new comprehensive approach to securing America's digital infrastructure."
But since her resignation Obama has yet to appoint someone to replace Hathaway.
This has led House Homeland Security Emerging Threats Subcommittee Chairwoman Yvette Clarke to press for Obama to appoint a new cyber czar to provide strategies for how the government and private companies prepare for and respond to online security threats.
She made the announcement at a TechAmerica briefing in recognition of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
According to Congress Daily:
Clarke said ignorance about safe computing "creates vulnerabilities right here on Capitol Hill," noting that she would host the first in a series of educational "cyber-flu shot" sessions for members and staff Friday.
Not everyone agrees that Hathaway should be replaced. On Wired's Danger Room blog, which focuses on the high tech defense industry, Michael Tanji argued that "we can make more progress on the network security front without such a 'czar.'"
For starters, we’ve had reasonable facsimiles of cyber czars before — to little effect. The studies have been done, the list of tasks complete, yet we continue to fail year after year.
Second, the cyber czar, like most actual royalty in the world these days, is destined to be more figurehead than Sun King. He (or she) would have no power of service providers or industries that are both the underpinnings of cyber space and the victims of online assaults. Despite grandiose claims to the contrary, the government has very little direct impact on how safe national resources are online.
Finally, even if the czar did have a lot more pull with industry than he actually would; how does she put that juice to good use? Given that the czar and the individual with the power to make things happen in cyber space are not the same person: she doesn’t.
"The guy who knows the most guys is the guy you want in this job," Tanji concluded. "Find him, and then sit back and watch what happens when you stop fighting real problems with a Visio diagram."
Given that this month is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, Obama may find increased pressure to take action on the nation's cyber security issues. Given other national heated debates on issues like health care and financial regulation, it's important that we don't lose sight in protecting the nation's online infrastructure, as it props up everything from our military to our financial institutions.