Security Strategy, Plan, Budget

White House kills cyber coordinator position

Just days after Rob Joyce left his position as cyber coordinator at the White House, the Trump administration has decided to eliminate the position.

Christine Samuelian, an aide to National Security Adviser John Bolton, penned a Tuesday letter to National Security Council (NSC) employees, saying, according to Politico, that “the role of cyber coordinator will end” as the administration tries to “streamline authority” in the Council by “eliminating another layer of bureaucracy.” 

Last week, the scuttlebutt said Bolton and his team were considering eliminating the position, much to the chagrin of many cybersecurity pros and lawmakers.

“Here's the point: we should be investing in our nation's cyber defense, not rolling it back.  We also need to articulate a clear cyber doctrine,” Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., tweeted Tuesday. “I don't see how getting rid of the top cyber official in the White House does anything to make our country safer from cyber threats.”

Netskope's CEO, Sanjay Beri said the move goes against all common sense in that the federal government should be creating cybersecurity roles and better organizing its cyber defense and the first step should be to appoint a federal CISO.

“Eliminating the White House's top cybersecurity job is vexing for a number of reasons. It comes at a time when our greatest cyber-adversaries, namely Russia, Iran and North Korea, are more relevant than ever on the global stage, and the country already lacks central cybersecurity leadership. There is a lack of discipline and finality in the government when it comes to tackling the cyber crises that we're facing on a global scale, so choosing not to fill the role previously held by Rob Joyce would only weaken the nation's cybersecurity posture," he said.

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