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Howard Schmidt
Special Assistant to the President, Cyber Security Coordinator at Executive Office of the President
White House
Biography
Howard Schmidt, Special Assistant to the President and the Cybersecurity Coordinator for the federal government, is recognized as one of the pioneers in the field of computer forensics and computer evidence collection. Has had a long distinguished career in defense, law enforcement, and corporate security spanning more than 40 years In this role. Mr. Schmidt is responsible for coordinating interagency cybersecurity policy development and implementation and for coordinating engagement with federal, state, local, international, and private sector cybersecurity partners.
Howard Schmidt also worked as the President and CEO of the Information Security Forum (ISF). Before ISF, he served as Vice President and Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Security Strategist for eBay Inc., and formerly operated as the Chief Security Officer for Microsoft Corp. He also served as Chief Security Strategist for the US-CERT Partners Program for the Department of Homeland Security.
One of Schmidt’s leading policy objectives was the development of “National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace”, which sought to enable private industry to create electronic identities that can be relied upon in cyberspace similar to the way that businesses rely on the combination of driver’s licenses and credit cards to authenticate identities in physical space.
Prior to joining the Obama Administration, Schmidt served as President of the Information Security Forum and President and CEO of R & H Security Consulting LLC, which he founded in May 2005. He was also the international president of the Information Systems Security Association and a board member of the Finnish security company Codenomicon, the American security company Fortify Software, and the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium, commonly known as (ISC)². In October 2008 he was named one of the 50 most influential people in business IT by readers and editors of Baseline Magazine.
Howard Schmidt, brings together talents in business, defense, intelligence, law enforcement, privacy, academia and international relations through his distinguished career. He served as Special Assistant to the President and the Cybersecurity Coordinator for the federal government.