Outlook Series | Obama Picks Melissa Hathaway to Lead Cyber Security

Obama Picks Melissa Hathaway to Lead Cyber Security

February 9, 2009

Melissa Hathaway was President George W. Bush's Senior Advisor to the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and Cyber Coordination Executive. Hathaway was asked to remain on board for the Obama Administration.

Hathaway also chairs the National Cyber Study Group (NCSG), and in January 2008 was appointed the Director of the Joint Interagency Cyber Task Force (JIACTF).

Ms. Hathaway has a B.A. degree from The American University in Washington, D.C.
She has completed graduate studies in international economics and technology transfer policy, and is a graduate of the US Armed Forces Staff College, with a special certificate
in Information Operations.

She has pointed to lack of situational awareness as a primary cyber security challenge. Hathaway is a believes that R&D efforts should be realigned and thinks that cyber-education for military professionals needs to be improved. She is also an advocate for DARPA’s cyber testing environment.

Melissa Hathaway, as director of the Joint Interagency Cyber Task Force, said addressing vulnerabilities within the U.S. computer network infrastructure must become a long-term priority for national and economic security.

“I don’t believe that this is a single-year or even a multi-year investment,” she said. “It’s a multi-decade approach.”

Key to the success of the Comprehensive National Cybersecurity Initiative (CNCI) is the development of technologies that provide increases in cybersecurity by orders of magnitude above our current systems and that are deployable perhaps five to ten years from now.

The DARPA National Cyber Range program will accelerate government research and development in high-risk, high-return areas and work in close cooperation with private-sector partners to jump-start technical cyber transformation. The National Cyber Range will provide the Nation with revolutionary, real-world simulation environments from which organizations can develop, field, and test new "leap-ahead" concepts and capabilities required to protect U.S. interests against a growing, worldwide cyber threat.

Hathaway was a Booz Allen Hamilton consultant, and in her new post, she will champion network security against adversaries including organized crime, espionage and terrorists threats. Her first task will be a review of existing systems, and developing a new cyber security road map.

OBAMA AGENDA • HOMELAND SECURITY - Protect Information Networks

Barack Obama and Joe Biden -- working with private industry, the research community and citizens -- will lead an effort to build a trustworthy and accountable cyber infrastructure that is resilient, protects America's competitive advantage, and advances our national and homeland security. They will:

Strengthen Federal Leadership on Cyber Security: Declare the cyber infrastructure a strategic asset and establish the position of national cyber advisor who will report directly to the president and will be responsible for coordinating federal agency efforts and development of national cyber policy.

Initiate a Safe Computing R&D Effort and Harden our Nation's Cyber Infrastructure: Support an initiative to develop next-generation secure computers and networking for national security applications. Work with industry and academia to develop and deploy a new generation of secure hardware and software for our critical cyber infrastructure.

Protect the IT Infrastructure That Keeps America's Economy Safe: Work with the private sector to establish tough new standards for cyber security and physical resilience.

Prevent Corporate Cyber-Espionage: Work with industry to develop the systems necessary to protect our nation's trade secrets and our research and development. Innovations in software, engineering, pharmaceuticals and other fields are being stolen online from U.S. businesses at an alarming rate.

Develop a Cyber Crime Strategy to Minimize the Opportunities for Criminal Profit: Shut down the mechanisms used to transmit criminal profits by shutting down untraceable Internet payment schemes. Initiate a grant and training program to provide federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies the tools they need to detect and prosecute cyber crime.

Mandate Standards for Securing Personal Data and Require Companies to Disclose Personal Information Data Breaches: Partner with industry and our citizens to secure personal data stored on government and private systems. Institute a common standard for securing such data across industries and protect the rights of individuals in the information age.