3 - Ping! Zine Web Tech Magazine

its &
bytes
Gov 2.0: FBI Official Fills In
As Acting Cybersecurity Chief
(Information Week) A Department of Justice official has stepped in
as acting White House Senior Director for cybersecurity, Federal
CTO Aneesh Chopra said today during a meeting with reporters at
the Gov 2.0 Summit.
Chris Painter joins the White House on detail from the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, where he has served as Deputy Assistant
Director of the cyber division since last year and has worked for
years on cybercrime and cybersecurity issues.
Last month, then-acting White House Senior Director for
cybersecurity, Melissa Hathaway -- who had led the 60-day
cybersecurity policy review that recommended the creation of a
federal cybersecurity coordinator position -- stepped down amid
speculation that she was being passed over for that position. She
also told the Washington Post that she felt she wasn’t empowered
to drive change in federal cybersecurity policy.
It is unclear how long Painter will remain at the White House,
but Chopra says the White House is “on track” to name a federal
cybersecurity coordinator, a position President Obama announced
in a widely covered speech in May, in the “not too distant future.”
Chopra said he has been actively involved in the hiring process,
and has interviewed a number of “top notch” candidates. However,
he declined to name any of the top contenders for the job.
It has been more than 90 days since President Obama outlined
his cybersecurity strategy and announced the imminent creation of
a cybersecurity coordinator position, and no appointee has been
named. That delay, and reports that some of the government’s top
choices have turned down the job, have dampened expectations
for the post by some observers.
Others, however, remain convinced that the cybersecurity
coordinator will play an important lead role in cybersecurity. Phil
Reitinger, Deputy Secretary of the Department of Homeland
Security for the National Protection and Programs Directorate
and director of the National Cyber Security Center, said late last
month that he expects the cybersecurity coordinator to be the
central locus for cybersecurity the President had in mind when he
announced the position.
018 | Ping! Zine magazine