Obama to name Howard Schmidt as cybersecurity coordinator

Howard A. Schmidt, who was a cyber-adviser in President George W. Bush's White House, will be Obama's new cybersecurity coordinator, an administration official said Monday night.

Schmidt declined to comment.

The mission is challenging: to coordinate cybersecurity policy across the federal government, from the military to civilian agencies. Schmidt's appointment comes as the Pentagon launches a major new "cyber-command" unit up and running and the Department of Homeland Security works to improve protection of civilian networks.

In May, Obama declared the nation's digital networks a "strategic national asset" and said protecting them would be a "national security priority." Creating a White House cybersecurity office, run by a senior White House official, would be key to that effort, he said.