Federal Cybersecurity Shake Up

The director of the National Cyber Security Center (NCSC), Rod Beckstrom resigned suddenly last week in a turf battle over federal control of cybersecurity initiatives. Beckstrom had been appointed in March 2008 to the newly created NCSC post as part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), according to Computer World.

Beckstrom said in a letter to DHS head Janet Napolitano that he was concerned about the encroachment of the National Security Agency (NSA) into leading government cybersecurity efforts. He decried what he called the "intelligence culture" of the NSA as a poor strategy for cyberdefense, saying it was different than "a network operations or security culture."

Beckstrom had been a controversial appointment himself due to his lack of a background in security. With his departure, attention will now be focused on the 60-day review of federal cybersecurity by Melissa Hathaway, who was appointed by President Obama in February.