Obama's cybersecurity strategy

President Obama turned his attention last week to the nation's cybersecurity weaknesses. He announced plans to develop a new national cybersecurity strategy and appoint a government-wide cybersecurity coordinator to fight this menacing threat.

In a brief speech on Friday, Obama said the strategy will be developed with help from private experts, and the administration will invest in "cutting edge" cybersecurity research and development. The policy announcement had been expected for some time and won widespread praise.

IT experts hope that it will provide the necessary pillars to protect U.S. systems that have been coming under repeated cyber attacks from illicit hackers, organized criminals, industrial spies and foreign intelligence services.

"It's now clear that this cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation," Obama said in his speech. "It's also clear that we're not as prepared as we should be, as a government, or as a country."

The announcement came with a 60-page review of the nation's cyber problems, and a commitment to take on this dilema and wrestle it to the ground.

Obama also said he plans to appoint a national cyber coordinator to deal with this problem across government. Although the proposed appointment had been initially called a "cyber czar," that language was dropped in favor of a more neutral term--a coordinator.

For more on Obama's cyber policy:
- check out this CIO.com article

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