Jim Garrettson
The Obama administration was expected to name a Cyber Czar and release a cyberspace policy review last Friday. The administration released the 76-page “Cyberspace Policy Review” as expected. Unexpectedly, the administration did not name a “Cyber Czar.” Melissa Hathaway, acting senior director for cyberspace at the National Security Council and the author of the review has been touted as a front-runner for the position, and here are some other contenders:
- Scott Charney, corporate VP of Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing (TwC) Group. This would be the second time Obama appoints a Microsoft executive to a high-level advisory position, having already appointed Microsoft Executive Craig Mundie to PCAST.
- Roger W. Cressey, former Chief of Staff to the President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, and former Director for Transnational Threats on the National Security Council, where he managed the U.S. Government’s response to the Millennium terror alert, the USS COLE attack, and the September 11th attacks. He is currently a partner at Good Harbor Consulting, LLC
- Paul Kurtz, founding Executive Director of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), former member of the Homeland Security Council (HSC) where he formulated the international component of the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. He is currently a partner at Good Harbor Consulting.
- Rear Admiral Robert C. “Willie“ Williamson, USN (RET) joined Raytheon, Network Centric Systems in March 2004. Currently, Willie is the vice president of International Programs for Integrated Communications Systems (ICS).
The review, praised by some industry advocates, is similar to the Bush administration’s 76-page National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. The biggest change is that cybersecurity will be centralized under the White House rather than the Department of Homeland Security.
Whoever Obama names, they will work closesly with recently-confirmed Federal CTO Aneesh Chopra and CIO Vivek Kundra to secure and streamline national data networks.
Zen and the Government Contracting Industry
Lakers coach Phil Jackson applies a Zen perspective to his management. With questions like “What is the sound of one hand clapping?” ancient Zen Masters tried to communicate to their students that there are no easy answers and today’s IT contracting experts have picked up where the Masters left off.
Microsoft and Google Search Engine Competition Escalates
Microsoft’s new search engine, “Bing” launched Monday. New features include an “explorer pane” summarizing content of individual search results and a related search window that turns up useful information instead of advertisements. In a world where Google is ubitquitous enough to be added to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, the conflict might seem a foregone conclusion, but Bing’s simple layout, and Google-rivalling speed and user-friendliness might carve Microsoft a slice of Google’s market-share.
Google fired back, announcing that its free Android operating system will power a new generation of laptops, trying to crack the foundation of Microsoft’s 90% market share in personal computer operating systems. Industry experts say that Android’s freeware status could force Microsoft to lower the price of the upcoming Windows 7 operating system.
Which is better? You decide.
