The White House on Wednesday announced a new non-partisan commission designed to gather input from experts in order to strengthen cybersecurity across both the public and private sectors in the United States.
The new Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity will be expected to recommend “bold, actionable steps” that the U.S. government and private sector can take to strengthen cybersecurity.
“The Commission is tasked with making detailed recommendations on actions that can be taken over the next decade to enhance cybersecurity awareness and protections throughout the private sector and at all levels of Government, to protect privacy, to ensure public safety and economic and national security, and to empower Americans to take better control of their digital security,” Michael Daniel, Special Assistant to the President and Cybersecurity Coordinator, explained.
President Obama said that the following individuals would be appointed to the newly formed commission:
• Tom Donilon, former Assistant to the President and National Security Advisor (Chair)
• Sam Palmisano, former CEO of IBM
• General Keith Alexander, CEO of IronNet Cybersecurity, former Director of the National Security Agency and former Commander of U.S. Cyber Command
• Annie Antón, Professor and Chair of the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Tech.
• Ajay Banga, President and CEO of MasterCard
• Steven Chabinsky, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer of CrowdStrike
• Patrick Gallagher, Chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh and former Director of the National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Peter Lee, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Research
• Herbert Lin, Senior Research Scholar for Cyber Policy and Security at the Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation and Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution
• Heather Murren, former member of the Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission and co-founder of the Nevada Cancer Institute
• Joe Sullivan, Chief Security Officer of Uber and former Chief Security Officer of Facebook
• Maggie Wilderotter, Executive Chairman of Frontier Communications
The first public meeting will be held on Thursday at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where commission members will be joined by Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker, Assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco, and others.
“I have charged the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity with the critically-important task of identifying the steps that our nation must take to ensure our cybersecurity in an increasingly digital world,” President Obama said in a statement. “These dedicated individuals bring a wealth of experience and talent to this important role, and I look forward to receiving the Commission’s recommendations.”
The commission is expected to report back to the White House by the beginning of December.
“To identify the individuals to take on this task, the President and his team consulted closely with leaders in the fields of national security, cybersecurity, business, technology, academia, and elsewhere,” Daniel said. “In addition, members of the bipartisan Congressional leadership each selected one individual to serve on the Commission, to ensure that there is broad support for the recommendations that are ultimately delivered to the nation.”