The departure of White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt, announced...
The departure of White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt, announced Thursday, isn’t expected by industry officials to diminish the Obama administration’s pressure on Congress to pass a cybersecurity measure with standards for operators of critical infrastructure. The White House said…
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Schmidt is retiring and “returning to private life.” He'll be succeeded by Michael Daniel, chief of the intelligence branch of the Office of Management and Budget. Daniel has worked on cybersecurity issues for the last 10 years, the White House said. Schmidt played a “vital role in shaping our country’s approach to cybersecurity at a critical time, not only in the public proposals he has helped to craft, but also in his tireless work behind the scenes to ensure that our leaders better understand the threats we face and to implement vast improvements to the security of our government networks,” said Rep. Jim Langevin, D-R.I., co-founder of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus. While Schmidt was a force, there was “involvement of many other high-level officials,” including from the intelligence community in the White House push for cybersecurity legislation, said an industry executive. “I think there still is continuing pressure from the higher levels of the executive to push for this.” Industry groups were profuse in their praise for Schmidt. His successor Daniel has been an “influential voice” on cybersecurity in the executive branch, and his work has helped shape and guide the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative, said Gen. Keith Alexander, commander of the U.S. Cyber Command.