Has Hathaway's Star Fallen?

A lot of names are being floated around as possible picks for the position of cyber czar, and interestingly enough, none seem to be Melissa Hathaway.

Hathaway led the 60-day cyber review ordered by the White House in February, and for a long time it seemed certain she would advise President Obama on all things cyber. One intel official, when asked whether he thought she'd get the job, said "probably so." Now, less than two weeks after Obama announced his comprehensive approach to the issue, Hathaway seems a long shot.

"By the time her report was published, Melissa's precipitous star had fallen," said Mike Jacobs, who served as information assurance director at the National Security Agency until his retirement in 2002. "She did a lot of reaching out, but It wasn't clear who's baggage she was carrying. Ultimately her report was spun, based upon her and the committee's own view of how things ought to be."

And that view, Jacobs said, wasn't all that different from what the Bush Administration prescribed. "In my mind, this has been a waste of time."

There are also other forces at play influencing how the Administration moves forward. The formation of the Cyber Command by the Air Force, for example, may be "the tail wagging the dog, in terms of the White House position," Jacobs said. "Everyone is trying to not get too far ahead of anyone else, but I can absolutely, categorically assure you there will be horrendous conflicts within government no matter what they decide to do."

And for that very reason, the cyber czar needs to be someone in the White House, fully capable of setting policy and forcing compliance. There are very few people fearless enough to take that on, and Jacobs argues that Hathaway is not among them. He likes some of the other names circulating though, most notably:

• Scott Charney, corporate vice president of Microsoft's Trustworthy Computing and head of the company's efforts to address cybersecurity and critical infrastructure protection. He served as chief of computer crime and intellectual property in the criminal division of the U.S. Department of Justice.

• Paul Kurtz, who led Obama's cybersecurity transition team and serves as a partner at Good Harbor consulting, alongside fellow cyber guru Richard Clarke. He served in senior positions on the White House's National Security and Homeland Security councils under Presidents Clinton and Bush.