President Obama on Wednesday announced the appointment of two industry leaders to head his Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP).
Tom Donilon, former National Security Adviser to Obama’s administration, will serve as the chairman of the committee and has in-depth experience in the nation’s intelligence and security policies. Sam Palmisano, former CEO of IBM, will serve as the vice chairman and has experience serving on many advisory boards for nonprofits looking to make cybersecurity a priority.
“With a chairman who understands government and national security issues, a vice chairman from the private sector who understands the intimacies of computing, of the digital world, the economic aspects of this, I think we’ve got two of the best possible people to chair this — to head up this effort,” Obama said in a speech.
The president on Feb. 9 announced a proposal for an expanded cybersecurity budget, which included the creation of the CNAP committee. This committee’s job is to assess the nation’s cybersecurity deficiencies and to advise both the current and future administration on possible solutions.
With the chairman and vice chairman positions filled, the president indicated that he is now looking to fill the committee with members of academia, the private sector, and the national security sector.
