Cybersecurity Chief to Obama: “We Need a Meeting”

They say that those who call for a meeting usually have the upper hand. Typically, this is the motivated party who wants to produce results. We hope this is the case with White House cybersecurity coordinator Howard Schmidt calling for a meeting with President Obama and crew today to discuss progress and ways to move forward on the cybersecurity agenda outlined by President Barack Obama in May 2009.

According to Computerworld, among those expected at the meeting are Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, and Gary Locke, Secretary of Commerce and several industry representatives, including some from electric utility companies and the vendor community. President Obama is expected to “briefly” attend the meeting.

Well, it seems that the timing is right for such a meeting. They should have had this meeting several months ago? Why? The GAO recently slammed the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy for failing to live up to its responsibility to coordinate a national cybersecurity R&D agenda. As a result (according to the GAO Report), the U.S risks falling behind other countries on cybersecurity matters, and being unable to adequately protect its interests in cyberspace.