In May when President Obama released a 40 page “Cyberspace Policy Review” it seemed pretty clear that the appointment of a Cyber Czar was imminent, however recent reports are that no one wants the job! In spite of three-year study report from the National Academy of Sciences that stated that the US was not Cybersafe released a few weeks before the President released his “Review”, we still cannot find a Cyber Czar. Without question Cyber Czar is a great title, but the individuals who turned down the job had good reasons which include a lack of clarity about how much power the new job would really have and to whom the Cyber Czar would report.

Shortage of Cyber Experts

While Cyber attacks persist we just got a report from the US government that there is a shortage of Cyber experts which only makes things worse. Because many of the Cyber expert jobs in the US government are classified and what job titles these people vary, it is not clear how many individuals are employed in this arena. However the Pentagon claims to have more than 90,000 individuals involved with Cyber security, and there are estimates of up to 45,000 other non-defense Cyber security workers. But yet there is a shortage given of the scope of these cyber attacks.

Our Future’s At Stake

In May the President stated that “America economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cybersecurity,” but not much progress has been made. Clearly it’s time the President to give the new Cyber Czar clarity on the job’s power and reporting authority. The US needs a Cyber Czar to take a leadership role. The world has become dependent on the Internet and as a result it is essential that we have adequate Cyber security to protect the economy now and in the future.
 

 

 

 

 

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