Senators stress cybersecurity as a top priority for OSTP nominee

Defending U.S. networks from cyberattacks was one of the chief concerns that the nominee for the top security post at the Office of Science and Technology Policy heard during his Senate nomination hearing on Wednesday.

Cybersecurity "is the greatest national security threat," Sen. John Rockefeller, D-W.Va., chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, told Philip E. Coyle III, President Obama's choice to be associate director for national security and international affairs at OSTP. Information security "was unfamiliar to people for a long time and now all of sudden it's the top national security threat because people can undo you gradually and dangerously, lethally in so many ways, so easily, and never be detected in many cases."

Coyle, who would become the first person to fill the vacant position in almost a decade if confirmed, assured senators that he would devote a considerable amount of attention and effort to cyber defense and global climate change. He currently is senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information at the World Security Institute, an independent research organization. A Rockefeller aide said on Thursday the committee intends to vote on the nomination by the end of the year.

Ranking member Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, seemed satisfied with Coyle's answers, signaling a potentially smooth confirmation, notwithstanding unrelated political fights. Last winter, some senators placed anonymous holds on the nomination of John Holdren to be OSTP director reportedly to protest a change in U.S. policy toward Cuba that was unrelated to the nomination.

During the session, Hutchison also raised concerns that U.S. technological advancement could become a domestic danger. "How can we promote American innovation without jeopardizing national security when we are working with countries where there may be a security threat in the future?" she asked.

Coyle replied that security concerns should not interfere with the sale of technologies that both the military and consumers use. "American companies need to be able to sell overseas," he said. "When they do that it brings down the price for American consumers . . . and in the case of the Defense Department, it brings down the cost for them."

Companies can protect national security interests by sticking to the sale of well-known technologies and removing sensitive software or sensors, he added.

Coyle's background includes missile defense, high-power lasers, weapons testing, national security policy and defense acquisition reform.

"American military technology is the envy of the world, and America's research and development enterprise is indispensable to our future. American private industry has played a key role in developing products and services that improve the quality of our lives, strengthen our economy, and protect us," he said. "If confirmed, I will work with government scientists, policymakers, private industry and educators to apply their skills and experience to the many national security challenges our nation faces."

President George W. Bush, following consultation with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., appointed Coyle to serve on the 2005 Defense Base Realignment and Closure Commission. He directed the operational test and evaluation office at the Department of Defense and spent three decades at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, Calif.