Many have criticized the Obama administration’s use of czars as a power grab, and a way to centralize power within the executive branch without congressional oversight.
Back in May, President Obama announced that he will create a “cyber czar” (cyber security coordinator) position. The Cyber Czar would be one of nearly three dozen czars appointed by the Obama administration in six months. However, unlike the other thirty-four czars, this one remains unfilled. This czar would be a senior White House official with broad authority to develop strategy to protect the nation’s government-run and private information infrastructure and coordinate efforts to protect and defend our nation against cyber attacks.
In addition, the new czar would be a member of the National Security Council and would report to the national security adviser as well as the senior White House economic adviser. The fact that the recent low level cyber skirmishes that took place over the July 4th weekend were able to disrupt a number of government web site operations clearly shows the need for the Cyber Czar. Security experts have all sounded the alarm and raised concerns about the exposure our nation faces when it comes to cyber threats.
Multiple people have been asked to accept the position and so far there were no takers. Ever stop and consider why? Perhaps it is because the position has the responsibility without the authority necessary to make it happen. Others say it is because it is nearly impossible to be successful. My opinion is it is a combination of both.
The administration needs to name a technically and politically knowledgeable and capable Cyber Czar. Lead — follow or get out of the way!
{ 13 comments… read them below or add one }
Czars are not constitutionally based and as such is an over step of executive power.
Mark I would re read your constitution. If Congress has so authorized they are free to delegate legislative powers to ANY branch of Gov’t including the executive, as long as the delegation includes with it intelligible standards. Furthermore if in fact Congress has delegated the power to the Executive branch, the Congress CAN NOT appoint members to that body if the body has administrative or enforcement powers only the President can do so. Though, Congress could remove that person by impeachment if they chose.
No more freakin czars we have what 30 or so now?
This has been retarded for awhile now its just starting to piss me off. Hell half of them cant even do there jobs.
Anthony,
You do have a valid point. Didn’t Bill Gates say that he was stepping down because an old person shouldn’t be running Microsoft?
Most current IT Admins/ managers have little to no hacker training. They are trained by the book, they do not even think like a malicious hacker. Like Sun Tzu said, “Know thy enemy”.
The Advisory Council (HSAC) has taken a step in the right direction though by appointing Jeff Moss (39) to the Council. Also known as “Dark Tangent”, Jeff is well known for his Defcon and Blackhat conferences.
The Cyberczar certainly needs to be a master of the arcane arts. Not the technical black arts of technology and security but the equally arcane black arts of Washington D.C. Able to attract technically savy SES crew to run the policy wonks and ethical hackers that will appease Congress, DOD, DHS, DNI, Commerce and pass muster for the ACLU and EFF while increasing the security of the USA.
I am surprised that an Obama administration that appointed Mrs. Clinton to Secretary of State, cant twist the arm of Al Gore to be Cyber Czar since he caused the problem when he invented the Internet in the first place.
I tend to think that leadership is lost on all agency levels. Fusion capacity is not to be shipped off to a permanant secret folder in a safe. We merely need to adapt in such situations. As for EWS, we again show resiliance as a necessary fabric beyond intergovernmental contrl levels. I also rate the response efforts poorly. As a civilian observer, I wonder when efforts will return to more efficient means… Defense was not also compromised, but lax. Very lax. I only received one conformation in the morning July 4th of the scud launch several hours later. There was never a mention of a DDOS style attack until days later. The legitimacy of lab 110 is shaky at best after further review of my own in a vunerabilites study. What we have are probably a few overpaid people somewhere in the mix of the food chain here that are employed and unemployed that need to reverse roles for a while. But again that is just one mans opinion since I am a civilian observer only.
I also wonder if there was another objective to the DDoS attack. It is common practice to use the DDoS as “noise” to cover up another more sinister incursion.
For example it can be hard to pick out SQL attacks when they are shrouded in a flood of DDoS traffic. Intrusion detection systems get tied up with fluff while the true target is obscured.
OBLAT I use intelligence sources and information I trust and that is not your claims! In addition, if you did what you claim to have done, and do not have the permission from every server owner and owner of the networks you accessed and used i that means you broke international law! Did you just admit to that crime – breaking international law?
Gee I don’t know, reading the newspaper ? – is that a crime on the planet you come from Kevin ?
It’s noticeable that Cyberbaloney attracts the sort of paranoid nutcases that are usually confined to UFO conventions. Meanwhile the actual computing industry is just laughing.
Oh I get it now – you ‘were’ working on a story trumpeting the North Korean DoS attack as final proof that cyberwar existed and I’ve just come along and pointed out that they traced it to Miami.
Now your pissed because you’ll either look either completely out of touch for not knowing about the trace or have to throw the work away.
I just saved you from humiliating yourself again in public Kevin with some half baked story, you should be thanking me.
This is real simple!!! The until a reliable source can refute S. Korea’s intel about the attacks N. Korea being behind the July 4th attacks we go with a governmental intelligence agency. All the want-a be cyber sleuths out there do not have the capabilities nor the legal access granted by some of the foreign governments needed to determine the source of the attacks.
We really should be discussing this at all, just keep in mind poor Kevin frantically rewriting his article as the facts shift beneath him.
For instance the virus was a rather simple one that selected one of 8 fixed servers in the UK for commands that were then linked back to Miami by VPN. I
Oblat you are gutless! As I said before – You hide behind a fake name, you are an amateur and have been thrown off one other blog so why don’t you do all of us who are serious about this blog a favor and SHUT THE HELL UP!