Update: Cybersecurity overhaul legislation DOA in Congress

Computerworld - WASHINGTON -- New legislation expected to be introduced in the House today that would move the nation's director of cybersecurity from the Department of Homeland Security to the White House is apparently already dead, Computerworld has learned.
The bill, planned as part of the effort to overhaul the U.S. intelligence community, would have created an Office of Critical Infrastructure Information Protection at the Office of Management and Budget. It was seen as an attempt by some lawmakers to strengthen the position of the DHS's national cybersecurity division director, a post now held by Amit Yoran.
Yoran joined the DHS a year ago after serving as a vice president at Symantec Corp. and CEO of his own security consulting firm.
"I have little understanding why cyber [security] would move back into the White House," Yoran told Computerworld in e-mail comments. "This is a topic where there are so many passionate opinions, billions of industry dollars on the line and many forces working some angle or other.
"I've long since given up trying to understand the political side of this and have focused on the operations," he said. "At least we've got some pretty cool capabilities built and are actually fixing some problems."
The debate surrounding his influence stems from the positioning of his job several bureaucratic layers below that of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge. Yoran's position stands in stark contrast to that of his predecessors, Howard Schmidt and Richard Clarke, both of whom were positioned in the White House and had a direct line to the president.
While critics of the current organizational structure continue to push for a greater role for cybersecurity, many said moving the position at this time would be a mistake.
"The bill is not going anywhere," said Howard Schmidt, former chairman of the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board. "There was no clarity [in the legislation] between the operational responsibilities and the policy responsibilities."
Schmidt said a policy champion for cybersecurity issues already exists on the Homeland Security Council. That position is currently held by Cheryl Peace.
He also warned that there seems to be little recognition that the DHS is not the only "operational arm" of government dealing with cybersecurity. The National Strategy to Protect Cyber Space, which Schmidt helped write before he left government to become the chief security officer at eBay Inc., makes it clear that cybersecurity is a "multiagency" effort that includes the Treasury Department, the Department of Justice and other agencies.

"The proposal is already dead," said Harris Miller, president of