Senators stress cybersecurity as a top priority for OSTP nominee

Defending US networks from cyberattacks was one of the chief concerns that the nominee for the top security post at the Office of Science and Technology Policy heard during his Senate nomination hearing on Wednesday. Cybersecurity "is the greatest national security threat," Sen. John Rockefeller (D-WV) -- chairman of the Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee -- told Philip E. Coyle III, President Obama's choice to be associate director for national security and international affairs at OSTP. Information security "was unfamiliar to people for a long time and now all of sudden it's the top national security threat because people can undo you gradually and dangerously, lethally in so many ways, so easily, and never be detected in many cases." Coyle, who would become the first person to fill the vacant position in almost a decade if confirmed, assured senators that he would devote a considerable amount of attention and effort to cyber defense and global climate change. He currently is senior adviser to the Center for Defense Information at the World Security Institute, an independent research organization. A Rockefeller aide said on Thursday the committee intends to vote on the nomination by the end of the year.