President Barack Obama has finally made his decision on the dangling appointment of the nation’s cyber security coordinator naming Howard A. Schmidt as the United States national cyber security coordinator. Mr. Schmidt has been a renowned computer security executive and had also served under the Bush administration. The announcement for the latest appointment will be officially made on Tuesday.

According to sources close to the topic, the President himself was intensely involved in the appointment of the new cyber security coordinator as the protection of national cyber interests had been prioritized by President Obama about an year ago. Mr. Schmidt was selected for this reputable position after conducting a long and exhaustive search. The new cyber security coordinator will be reporting directly to the President of the United States of America.

However, according to various computer and cyber security experts, even with the new appointment, the position still lacks the financial backing of the government and decision making authority that is one of the primary requisites for this intensively crucial position. Mr. Schmidt will be reporting to the National Security Council and will also be providing assistance to the National Economic Council on cyber issues.

According to Roger Thornton (CTO, Fortify Software),

“From the industry’s perspective, a lot of people are starting to think that other pressing matters in Afghanistan and other issues put this on a back burner. If it is, that’s understandable but depressing. I think he would be able to get people to compromise and move things forward.”

Via Associated Press.