New cybersecurity blow for Obama

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 5 Aug 2009 at 08:15

President Obama is still searching for the right person to lead the fight against cybercrime, following the resignation of a top cybersecurity adviser.

Melissa Hathaway, who led a 60-day White House review of e-security policies, resigned and said she had withdrawn her application for the position of cybersecurity coordinator out of frustration over the administration's delays in filling the post.

"I wasn't willing to continue to wait any longer because I'm not empowered right now to continue to drive the change," Hathaway, who also worked on cybersecurity issues for the Bush administration, told The Washington Post.

Obama promised in May that he would personally decide who would become cybersecurity coordinator to lead the fight against an epidemic of e-crime.

Industry officials have pushed for someone to be appointed to the job. Republican Senator Susan Collins, who has worked closely with the Democratic president on many issues, blasted Hathaway's departure as a sign of the Obama administration's lack of leadership in cybersecurity.

"The loss of her expertise on this issue is unfortunate," Collins, the ranking Republican on the Senate homeland security committee, said in a statement.

She said the White House shouldn't appoint a cybersecurity czar but should work with Congress to appoint a "cyber leader" at the Department of Homeland Security.

A source with direct knowledge of the search told Reuters in June that those who had been considered included Microsoft's security chief and an executive from Sun Microsystems. The source indicated Hathaway was also in the running but less likely to be chosen for the job.

White House spokesman Nicholas Shapiro praised Hathaway for "the significant progress she and her team have made on our national cybersecurity strategy."

He said cybersecurity remained a major priority for Obama and insisted the president was committed to finding the right person. "A rigorous selection process is well under way," Shapiro said.

Separately, Obama's homeland security secretary, Janet Napolitano, said she was working to recruit industry experts on cybersecurity.

"I hope to recruit some of your smartest people to join the Government, so watch out," Napolitano said to laughter from the audience at the Global Cyber Security Conference hosted by the US Secret Service.

"This is a very, very rapidly evolving environment in which real crime and real damage can occur," she said.