New cybersecurity coordinator says he has Obama's ear
Schmidt said he has begun meeting with members of Congress and noted several cybersecurity bills have been introduced.
The White House's new cybersecurity coordinator assured a roomful of technology and Internet stakeholders Wednesday that he has the authority he needs to better secure the federal government's networks.
Howard Schmidt, who started work at his post last week, said he is often asked if he has the authority. "Do you have the ear of the president? Is this being taken seriously in the administration? ...The answer is `yes.' "
Schmidt's appointment in December to become the nation's first White House cybersecurity coordinator came more than a half year after President Obama announced he would appoint such an official and pledged to make cybersecurity a key administration priority.
The lag between Obama's pledge to appoint a senior cybersecurity adviser and the appointment raised questions in the cybersecurity community about whether the issue was still a White House priority.
After his speech at the Congressional Internet Caucus' State of the Net conference, Schmidt was pressed on whether he will have influence over budgetary decisions about cybersecurity. Schmidt said he doesn't believe he has to have control over a budget to make change.
"If the president, the national security adviser, the national economic adviser says, 'Hey, we need these things,' things will happen," he said.
Schmidt said he plans to work closely with Vivek Kundra, the federal chief information officer who works in OMB and will have input into budgetary decisions. And while Schmidt will report to the national security adviser, he said he was pleased to learn when he was in discussions about taking his post that there is a "direct linkage between the national security staff and National Economic Council, and I think that is crucial."
When asked if there is anything Congress can do to assist him, Schmidt said he has begun meeting with members of Congress and noted several cybersecurity bills have been introduced. But he did not say whether he supported any particular measures.
As far as how he will go about carrying out the difficult job of securing the federal government's networks and also encouraging the private sector to do its part, Schmidt said the focus needs to be on several areas.
This includes more focus on reducing vulnerabilities. Schmidt said the way to do this is to stop looking to end-users to be the "policemen of the desktops."
Instead, he said, efforts must be made to ensure security is a key part of products and that vulnerabilities are fixed.