President Obama Names MasterCard, Uber And Microsoft Execs To Cybersecurity Commission

The White House has announced the names of those to be appointed by the president to the new Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity.

To be included in the discussion will be General Keith Alexander, the director of the National Security Agency from 2005 to 2014;MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga; Uber Chief Security Officer Joe Sullivan; and Peter Lee, corporate vice president for Microsoft Research.

“I have charged the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity with the critically important task of identifying the steps that our nation must take to ensure our cybersecurity in an increasingly digital world,” Obama said in a statement.

The panel was first announced a year ago and is designed as part of a $19 billion proposal aimed at tightening the nation’s defenses against cybersecurity threats of all stripes.

It is also designed to be a public-private partnership aimed at countering a mutual and highly destructive force, hence the inclusion of high-profile names from both the public and private sectors.

“These dedicated individuals bring a wealth of experience and talent to this important role, and I look forward to receiving the commission’s recommendations.”

To be selected, representatives had to be signed off on by both President Obama and congressional leadership. Also on the list are academics, legal experts, security leaders and finance professionals. The $19 billion allocated out of the $4 trillion federal budget represents a 35 percent uptick in spending on cybersafety.

And, in a rare moment of bipartisan agreement, it seems neither party wants to argue against this effort or consider the feelings of the hackers. This is likely because the creation of this particular panel was in response to a massive breach of various government systems thought to have been undertaken by a Chinese hacking outfit known as Operation Deep Panda.