Private cybersecurity commission to continue

An influential commission whose initial recommendations informed the Obama administration’s cybersecurity policy review is preparing another report, the group’s leaders have said.

The Center for Strategic and International Studies' Commission (CSIS) on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency will now start discussing how to put in place the recommendations of the Obama administration’s cyber policy review, chairmen from the commission said July 23. They spoke as part of a briefing for the House Cybersecurity Caucus.

“We’re going to concentrate on the ideas, the findings that are in there and try to put substance on how we can contribute to what the president has said is our way forward,” said retired Lt. Gen. Harry Raduege, one of the commission's co-chairmen and now a consultant with Deloitte.

The CSIS’ commission's first report, released in December, recommended that the then-incoming Obama administration appoint an official in the White House to coordinate the government’s cyber policy. During a speech in May, President Barack Obama committed – in general terms – to follow that advice with a pledge to pick a cyber coordinator at the White House.

However, Obama is yet to announce his pick and speculation is rampant about whether the new official will have sufficient clout.

“The goal of this next phase is to look at those foundational problems that are really key to fixing the broader problems and make specific and concrete recommendations, if we can and where we can, to the administration on how to tackle some of these issues,” said Scott Charney, one of the commission’s chairman and Microsoft’s corporate vice president for trustworthy computing.

The CSIS Commission includes prominent cybersecurity experts from government and industry.

The House Cybersecurity Caucus chairmen, Reps. James Langevin (D-R.I.) and Michael McCaul (R-Texas), also serve as co-chairmen of the CSIS’ commission.

The commission hopes to have a report out by the end of the year.