Obama picks computer, Internet security chief

LITTLE ROCK — President Barack Obama on Tuesday picked Howard A. Schmidt, a former security executive at EBay Inc. and Microsoft Corp., to become the nation’s top official for computer and Internet security.

“Cyber-security matters to all of us,” John O. Brennan, assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism, wrote in an announcement posted Tuesday on the White House blog site. “Protecting the Internet is critical to our national security, public safety and our personal privacy and civil liberties.”

The government and private firms face the threat of computer hacking, with military, banking and communication systems vulnerable to attacks through the Internet.Creation of the position is one of the chief recommendations of a 60-day review, completed April 17, on boosting computer security for the government and private industry. The president’s task force on cyber-security cited industry estimates that losses from intellectual property and data theft last year amounted to as much as $1 trillion.

Schmidt will be responsible for developing a governmentwide plan for protecting computer systems of federal departments and agencies, according to Brennan.

The matter is of concern to the nation’s financial industry. Citigroup Inc. said Tuesday that none of its computer-security systems were breached and no money was lost, after a Wall Street Journal report that the FBI is investigating a possible cyber-theft of tens of millions of dollars by computer hackers.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said he wasn’t sure whether Obama was briefed on the matter. He said attempts by hackers to breach financial-system computers would fall under Schmidt’s responsibilities, as well as the policy-making White House Economic Council, headed by Lawrence H. Summers.

Schmidt will report to the National Security Council at the White House, according to Brennan.

“Howard will have regular access to the president,” Brennan said, and will be part of the national security staff under General Jim Jones, head of the White House National Security Council. He’ll also work with Obama’s top economic advisers, including the National Economic Council, Brennan said.

Schmidt, a former cyber-security official in the administration of President George W. Bush, was selected because of his experience as a cyber-security officer at San Jose, Calif.-based EBay and Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft, Brennan said.

Schmidt is currently chief executive officer of the Information Security Forum, a London-based nonprofit computer-security trade association.

“Howard is one of the world’s leading authorities on computer security, with some 40 years of experience in government, business and law enforcement,” Brennan wrote.

In the Bush administration, Schmidt served as vice chairman of the president’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board and as special adviser for cyberspace security, The New York Times reported.

Schmidt served with the FBI, where he headed the Computer Exploitation Team at the National Drug Intelligence Center. He also served in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations Computer Forensic Lab and in its Computer Crime and Information Warfare Division.