The White House has scheduled an 11 a.m. EDT Friday press conference where President Barack Obama is expected to announce details of a major overhaul of the government's technology infrastructure protection program - something he's been promising since last year's campaign . Obama also is expected to give some more details about what the nation's forthcoming new "cyberczar" will be doing when he or she is named, probably in the next couple of days.
This isn't the first time the federal government has said it's going to start paying attention to cybersecurity, of course. Shortly after the Sept.11, 2001 terrorist attacks, then President Bush flew Department of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge and his lieutenant Richard Clarke to Silicon Valley where they announced the National Strategy To Secure Cyberspace.
Several cyberczars later, government cybersecurity policy went absolutely nowhere.
What might make it work better this time? More emphasis from the boss, for starters - and more power for whomever he puts in charge. So far, it looks like Melissa Hathaway, the acting White House cyber security chief, is the front runner, although the Wall Street Journal is reporting that Scott Charney, Microsoft Corp's vice president for security and Maureen Baginski, who held top jobs at the National Security Agency and the FBI, might also be in the running.
In another sign that Obama's putting more importance on the role, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is scheduled to be at the announcement Friday, indicating that the new cyber policy will reach beyond the nation's borders - something that's absolutely necessary when you have hackers and crackers from Russia, China and other places responsible for most cyber attacks these days.
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