Howard Schmidt opts out of bid for Congress

He didn't rule out a future career in politics

By Dan Verton

May 7, 2004 12:00 PM ET

Computerworld - WASHINGTON -- After months of consideration, Howard Schmidt, the chief security officer at eBay Inc. and the former chairman of the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, announced today that he won't run for Congress from his home state of Washington.
In an exclusive interview with Computerworld, Schmidt said that the "financial timing is not right" to undertake a major political campaign and that he believes he can be a more effective advocate for critical-infrastructure protection and cybersecurity issues working from the private sector. However, he hasn't ruled out a political career in the future.
Schmidt had eyed a run for Washington's 8th District seat, currently held by Jennifer Dunn, who in January announced plans to retire. And while senior members of Dunn's staff have said publicly that Schmidt could carry on Dunn's homeland security agenda, Schmidt chose instead to take on more work with the Department of Homeland Security.
Schmidt is currently advising senior DHS officials unofficially about how to best launch the U.S. CERT Partnership Program, a new cyber security effort currently in the planning phase.
Senior members of the DHS approached Schmidt in December during the inaugural National Cyber Security Summit and asked for his direct assistance in working with the private sector. Other senior DHS and private sector officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Schmidt was approached amid concerns that the agency wasn't getting good advice on cybersecurity and critical-infrastructure protection from outside "industry experts."
A senior DHS official involved in luring Schmidt back into a consulting and advisory role acknowledged that some advice received by the DHS wasn't well grounded.
Schmidt, however, said he has been closely weighing his options, working to ensure he doesn't overextend himself -- something he has expressed to DHS officials. In addition to his current role at eBay, the former White House adviser recently co-founded the Global CSO Council and serves as co-chair of the awareness and education committee of the Cyber Security Task Force, which was formed at last year's National Cyber Security Summit.

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