[Infowarrior] - Report: Kramer Is Top Candidate For Cyber Post

[Richard Forno]

Franklin Kramer Is Top Candidate For Cyber Post

http://politics.theatlantic.com/2009/09/franklin_kramer_is_top_candidate_for_cyber_post.php

Franklin Kramer, a former assistant secretary of defense and well- 
regarded cyber security consultant, has been interviewed by several  
senior White House officials in recent weeks, fueling speculation that  
he is the leading candidate for the administration's top cybersecurity  
post.   Reuters reported today that Kramer was the "leading"  
candidate, citing a senior administration official. Reached today in  
Washington, Kramer declined to comment.

In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee in 2005, Kramer  
said said that cyber security "is best thought of as part of national  
security--geo-political and economic, of which technical security is  
only a limited, though important, part." That jibes with the way the  
White House conceives of the problem. Kramer has called for a "cyber  
policy council " along the lines of the National Economic Council and  
for a "cyber corps," an interagency, multidisciplinary force that  
could "integrate influence, attack, defense, and exploitation in the  
operational arena."  Kramer has also advocated a full and open dialog  
with Americans about the tradeoffs inherent in securing cyberspace.

After leaving government in 2001 -- he was assistant secretary of  
defense for international security affairs from 1996 to 2001 --   
Kramer became a technology consultant and a lawyer, at the firm of  
Shea & Gardner in Washington, D.C.  From 2004 to 2006, Kramer earned  
$416,000 worth of defense contracts.   Kramer has published widely on  
cybersecurity, and co-authored a foundational policy text, "Cyberpower  
and National Security," when he was a distinguished research fellow at  
the National Defense University. Since 2007, Kramer has worked as an  
adviser for a private international investment firm.

Speaking at a technology summit in Washington today, a White House  
official said that the new cyber "czar" would be unveiled soon but  
would not identify the person.

A White House spokesman, Nick Shapiro, declined to comment.