Obama Grappling with the Politics of Cyber Security

Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent a memo to the Pentagon last week creating a new military command dedicated to cyber security. Gates' memo mandates that the National Security Agency (NSA) is to lead this effort, at least as it pertains to matters of national defense.

Gates' approach signals the Obama Administration’s plans to centralize and elevate cyber security as a major national-security issue. Obama was quick to point out later in the week that Gates' memo intended to set policy for military related issues only, including the use of both defensive and offensive weapons to counteract cyber threats.

This approach still leaves the matter of what the government's role in protection and hardening the public Internet will be, though it's widely known that the NSA will not be able to successfully accomplish its mission without some regulation or control of the public Internet.

Mr. Gates said that he intends "to recommend that Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, take on the additional role as commander of the Cyber Command with the rank of a four-star general."

There was no comment from the Melissa Hathaway camp. Hathaway is currently the acting senior director of cyber-security for the National Security and Homeland Security Councils.

In late April Hathaway spoke about a public-private collaboration and threats to national information security at the annual 2009 RSA Conference in San Francisco. Her plans at the time were less than concrete and some speculate that there was some displeasure inside the Obama Administration about Hathaway 60-day review of the plans, programs, and activities throughout the government that address the US' communications and information infrastructure (i.e., cyberspace).

A white house blog on March 2nd stated that "the purpose of the review is to develop a strategic framework to ensure that our initiatives in this area are appropriately integrated, resourced and coordinated both within the Executive Branch and with Congress and the private sector."

The Obama Administration appears to be a bit perplexed about how to manage privacy advocates who are leery of NSA leadership in cyber security vs. the Dept. of Homeland Security which has never fully built competency to handle the many complex technical and infrastructure related issues.