White House’s Schmidt leaving government in a much different cyber place

One of the biggest differences in the federal cybersecurity landscape over the last two years is the recognition by the most senior leaders of the importance of securing agency, contractor and critical infrastructure systems. Howard Schmidt, the outgoing White House cybersecurity coordinator, said in his first interview since announcing his retirement May 17 that IT security ranks in every agency's top five priorities.

It's that acknowledgement that shows both the impact of the White House's cyber office and the broader change across government. "It's now top of mind for everybody who is part of the leadership teams where before it was one of many, many things they had to deal with," Schmidt said in an exclusive interview with Federal News Radio. "Part of the role as the president established this office is coordinating these efforts. When you are at different levels of a start some need additional meetings and some structure to help them build the things they need to build. When you are coordinating now and in particular everybody recognizes they need to be on the same sheet, how they get there makes life a lot easier for this office to coordinate activities moving forward."