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COMPUTER security specialists have hailed US President Barack Obama's plan for a national cyber defence coordinator, calling the move a laudable first step on a tough road.
US president Obama announced he would name a White House 01Ccyber tsar01D to deter and defend against mounting criminal, espionage and hacker attacks on US government and private computer networks.

01CWe all know we are under attack and we are going to need to respond when there is an issue,01D - words of Symantec chief executive Enrique Salem, who was at the White House for Obama's announcement.

01CThis is the beginning of a long journey. It's got to continue to get the president's attention and get the right budget. It can't just be an announcement today without follow through.01D

While praising Obama's making the cyber security an unprecedented presidential priority, computer experts bore in mind that his speech yet lacked specifics and did not mention when a cyber coordinator will be named.

01CThere are still a lot of unanswered questions. There needs to be a lot more collaboration from a public-private sector perspective; it is a multi-stakeholder approach to battling cyber crime. I don't envy the person that gets the job because it will be really tough01D - words of Trend Micro threat researcher Paul Ferguson.

Questions yet to be answered include what kind of authority Obama's cyber security coordinator will have to ensure cooperation and compliance among government agencies, contractors, and private businesses and most importantly, how would this initiative affect basic privacy rights of an average Internet surfer.

01CIt's like the government is trying to figure this out on the fly. It sets the right tone, but is light on details right now. Is this going to be a position with no budget and no intelligence gathering capabilities that sits in the middle asking for cooperation?01D mentioned Jeff Moss, who runs Black Hat computer security conferences and DefCon, the world's most notorious annual gathering of hackers.

A US cyber coordinator will face the challenge of balancing network security with civil liberties and privacy, according to Moss.

01CHow can you defend your networks without watching them?01D Moss asked rhetorically.

01CCan you watch government networks and not private networks that the US economy depends on? If a private network is hacked to attack the government, you are going to follow the trail back.01D

US trade group TechAmerica called the 60-Day Cyber Security Review released by Obama's administration yesterday (May 29th, 2009) a 01Chistoric step01D toward protecting US critical infrastructure against cyber attack.

01CProtecting America from a digital 9/11 requires presidential involvement, a robust national strategy, high-level White House staff and close cooperation with the private sector. President Obama understands the challenge and today committed himself and his administration to meeting that challenge.01D - words of TechAmerica president Phil Bond.

More than 80 percent of US critical infrastructure such as utility lines and computer networks are privately owned and operated but their defense calls for partnerships with government agencies, according to Bond.

01CToday marks the beginning of a new era of White House leadership in cybersecurity. We think this is a great first step, but there is even more hard work to be done. Cyber threats are very real, ongoing, and very dangerous.01D - words of Phyllis Schneck, vice president at computer security firm McAfee.