Former DHS IT official to head ICANN

Rod Beckstrom, who served as head of the Department of Homeland Security's National Cyber Center, has been named the new chief executive of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

In this role, Beckstrom will oversee the organization responsible for assigning domain names and IP addresses on the Internet.

"The Internet has changed the way the world communicates and conducts commerce," Beckstrom said in a statement. "And in no small way, this multi-stakeholder, bottom-up organization has been and will continue to be at the core of the Internet's on-going evolution. Quite simply, the proof that ICANN works, is that the Internet works."

Beckstrom resigned from his government post in March, warning of the growing influence of the National Security Agency and Defense Department over civilian computer networks. But it is good for the government that a former Fed is taking this job, as ICANN is about to vastly expand domain names in the coming months, and the government may face competition from non-governmental websites, as well as the likelihood of greater cyber attacks.

For more on ICANN:
- see this govinfosecurity.com article