Yesterday, President Obama took an important step toward putting cyber security front and center by appointing Howard Schmidt as cyber security coordinator. Not only will this significantly aide in advancing the current administration’s cyber security initiatives—it’s also a critical step forward in the private sector’s fight against cyber crime.

Given the impact that cyber crime has on our economy, online businesses especially have a lot riding on the success of these government initiatives. A recent report from LexisNexis estimates that U.S. businesses lose $191 billion annually from computer related crimes. This is why Mr. Schmidt’s combined experience in both government and the private sector will hopefully be an important asset, allowing him to simultaneously understand the issues currently facing businesses and be able to cut through the red tape on Capitol Hill to make real change happen.

Of his appointment, Mr. Schmidt remarked:

Because ultimately no one—not government, not the private sector, not individual citizens—can keep us safe and strong alone. When it comes to cyber security, our vulnerability is shared. I’m committed to bringing all these stakeholders together around a new, comprehensive cyber strategy that keeps America secure and prosperous.

The President and Mr. Schmidt clearly see eye-to-eye regarding the importance of cyberspace on our economy, homeland security, and the U.S.’s ability to remain competitive in a global economy. More importantly, by appointing Schmidt, President Obama is following through on his remarks about securing our nation’s cyber infrastructure: “America’s economic prosperity in the 21st century will depend on cyber security. For all these reasons, it’s now clear this cyber threat is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face as a nation.”

For government and online businesses alike, protecting sensitive information is a shared obligation and needs to continually be addressed. I’m glad President Obama and Mr. Schmidt understand this. I hope that they are successful in leading a coordinated effort to combat this threat. With our personal experience in stopping literally millions and millions of online fraudulent transactions, iovation understands the seriousness of cyber crime.

Tags: cyber crime, cybercrime, Howard Schmidt, Online Fraud, online security

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009 at 4:01 pm and is filed under Financial Services, Online Communities, Online Gambling, Online Gaming, Online Retail. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.