"Barack Obama and Joe Biden will declare the cyber infrastructure a strategic asset, vital to national security and the global economy, and develop and deploy systems to protect it. … Barack Obama and Joe Biden will establish the position of national cyber advisor who will report directly to the president and will be responsible for coordinating federal agency efforts and development of national cyber policy."
President Barack Obama named Howard Schmidt as the new White House cybersecurity coordinator on Dec. 22, 2009. The job includes responsibility for coordinating cybersecurity activities across the government. In addition to national security matters, Schmidt will also coordinate cybersecurity issues that encourage economic growth and commerce.
Schmidt was a cybersecurity adviser to President George W. Bush and held top security positions for Microsoft and eBay.
But Schmidt does not completely fulfill the terms of Obama's pledge, because Schmidt will not report directly to Obama. Instead, Schmidt will report to deputy national security adviser John O. Brennan. We should note that the announcement said Schmidt would "have regular access to the President and serve as a key member of his National Security Staff." So we rate this promise Compromise.
President Barack Obama unveiled an initial review of the nation's cybersecurity strategy on May 29, 2009.
The review included a "near term action plan" that call for 10 steps to create "a reliable, resilient, trustworthy digital infrastructure for the future."
Among those 10 steps, the review says the administration should "appoint a cybersecurity policy official responsible for coordinating the nation"s cybersecurity policies and activities."
Obama said he intended to do that, and outlined details of the job.
"I'm creating a new office here at the White House that will be led by the cybersecurity coordinator," Obama said. "Because of the critical importance of this work, I will personally select this official. I'll depend on this official in all matters relating to cybersecurity, and this official will have my full support and regular access to me as we confront these challenges."
When he names that person, this promise will likely reach its completion. For now, we rate this promise In the Works.
The Obama administration completed its initial review of the nation's cybersecurity strategy. President Obama unveiled the report on May 29, 2009.
The review included a "near term action plan" that call for 10 steps to create "a reliable, resilient, trustworthy digital infrastructure for the future."
Among those 10 steps, the review says the administration should "prepare for the president"s approval an updated national strategy to secure the information and communications infrastructure."
When that strategy is in place, this promise will likely reach its completion. For now, we still rate this promise In the Works.