Schmidt tapped as White House cybersecurity coordinator: Via Computerworld Security News.

Seven months after he announced the creation of a White House cybersecurity coordinator, President Obama has selected industry veteran Howard Schmidt for the job, an administration official confirmed Monday night.

The official told CSOonline.com that the White House will make the announcement today.

"Cybersecurity is critical to both our national security and economic competitiveness, and the president wanted to ensure that the cybersecurity coordinator had the right mix of public and private sector experience," the official said. "After an extensive search, the president chose Schmidt because of his unique background and skill sets."

Schmidt has a long history in the IT security sector and has served in the White House before as vice chairman of the president's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board. He's a former chief information security officer at eBay, chief security officer at Microsoft and has worked with federal and local law enforcement and the Defense Department.

The administration official said Obama "was personally involved in the selection" of Schmidt, and Schmidt will have regular access to the president for cybersecurity issues.

"Our cybersecurity team at the White House has been making good progress on the president's cybersecurity priorities since his speech and that will enable Howard to hit the ground running," the official said. "Schmidt and his team are part of the National Security Staff and will closely support the National Economic Council on cybersecurity issues."

The news comes on the same day CSOonline.com ran an article in which Schmidt offered IT security predictions for 2010. His predictions were as follows:

Read Original Article:(Via Computerworld Security News.)