Howard Schmidt - Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) Board President - becomes US cybersecurity coordinator

What's happening: Howard Schmidt, president and CEO of the Information Security Forum (ISF) has been appointed White House Cybersecurity Coordinator by President Obama. As the new cybersecurity czar, he will have regular access to President Obama and serve as a key member of the National Security Staff. Schmidt has over 40 years of experience in government, business and law enforcement. He is in his second term as President of the Board of the not-for-profit Information Systems Security Association (ISSA), the world's foremost association for information systems security professionals.

What it means: President Obama last May became the first head-of-state of a major industrial nation to make a strong commitment to winning the battle to secure cyberspace. By appointing Schmidt as his Cybersecurity Coordinator, the President has given the job to a proven leader able to work with both government and industry. Schmidt helped develop the "National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace" which promotes "a comprehensive national awareness program to empower all Americans - businesses, the general workforce, and the general population - to secure their own parts of cyberspace." The plan recognizes that everyone must take responsibility for securing their own systems, that it takes the village to protect the village, that an unprotected computer puts even protected computers at risk.

What to do: Read our paper from the ISSA Journal "Creating the Information Security Village." Look for opportunities to do your part to "secure the village" including encouraging your IT and information security staff to become active in ISSA and other information security organizations.

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White House Picks New Cyber Coordinator