Howard Schmidt
{{short description|American computer security expert (1949 - 2017)}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| name = Howard Schmidt
| image = Howard Schmidt.jpg
| image_size = 250px
| office = Cyber Security Coordinator of the Obama Administration
| term_start = January 20, 2009
| term_end = May 31, 2012
| president = Barack Obama
| alongside =
| predecessor =
| successor = Michael Daniel
| caption =
| birth_name = Howard Anthony Schmidt
| birth_date = October 5, 1949
| birth_place = Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
| death_date = March 2, 2017 (aged 67)
| death_place = Muskego, Wisconsin
| occupation = Computer Security Specialist
| party =
| spouse = Raemarie Schmidt
| children = Four grown sons, 8 Grandchildren
| alma_mater = University of Phoenix (B.S./M.A.)
| religion =
}}Howard Anthony Schmidt (October 5, 1949 – March 2, 2017){{Cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/04/us/howard-schmidt-dead-white-house-cybersecurity-aide.html |title=Howard Schmidt, Cybersecurity Adviser to Two Presidents, Dies at 67 |access-date=5 March 2017 |work=The New York Times|date=4 March 2017 |last1=Roberts |first1=Sam }} was a partner with Tom Ridge in Ridge Schmidt Cyber LLC, a consultancy company in the field of cybersecurity.{{cite web | title=Tom Ridge, Howard Schmidt Launch New Cybersecurity Executive Services Firm |url=http://www.darkreading.com/security-services/167801101/security/news/240150172/tom-ridge-howard-schmidt-launch-new-cybersecurity-executive-services-firm}} He was the Cyber-Security Coordinator of the Obama Administration,{{cite web | title=Introducing the New Cybersecurity Coordinator | via=National Archives | work=whitehouse.gov | date=22 December 2009 | url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/blog/2009/12/22/introducing-new-cybersecurity-coordinator}} operating in the Executive Office of the President of the United States. He announced his retirement from that position on May 17, 2012, effective at the end of the month.{{Cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/white-houses-cybersecurity-official-retiring/2012/05/16/gIQAX6fmUU_story.html |title=White House Cybersecurity Official Retiring |last=Nakashima |first=Ellen |newspaper=The Washington Post |date=May 16, 2012 |access-date=June 2, 2012}}
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.{{cite web|title=DRAFT National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace|date=25 June 2010|url=https://www.dhs.gov/xlibrary/assets/ns_tic.pdf}}
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.{{cite web|url=http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=72186|author=Michelle Chase|title=Prof. Howard A. Schmidt Appointed First President of the Information Security Forum|date=2008-08-12|access-date=2008-11-25}} He was also the international president of the Information Systems Security Association{{cite web | title=ISSA | url=http://www.issa.org/Association.html | access-date=2009-05-15 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090527210406/http://www.issa.org/Association.html | archive-date=2009-05-27 | url-status=dead }} and the chairman of the board of the Finnish security company Codenomicon, the American security company Fortify Software, and the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium,{{cite web | title=(ISC)² | url=http://www.isc2.org/board-of-directors.aspx | access-date=2009-12-22 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170204144737/https://www.isc2.org/board-of-directors.aspx | archive-date=2017-02-04 | url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web | title= The 50 Most Influential People in Business IT | date=15 October 2008| url=http://www.baselinemag.com/c/a/IT-Management/The-50-Most-Influential-People-in-Business-IT/}}
Schmidt died of brain cancer on March 2, 2017, at his home in Muskego, Wisconsin.{{cite web | title= In Appreciation: Howard A. Schmidt | date=3 February 2017| url=http://www.darkreading.com/careers-and-people/in-appreciation--howard-a-schmidt/d/d-id/1328307}}[http://www.beckerritter.com/sitemaker/sites/Becker1/obit.cgi?user=55744571_HSchmidt Howard A. Schmidt-obituary]{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Education
Schmidt held a Bachelor of Science degree in business administration (1994) and a Master of Arts degree in organizational management (1998) from the University of Phoenix. He also holds an honorary doctorate degree in humane letters. Schmidt's certifications include CISSP and CISM.{{cite web| title= Cylab biography| url= http://www.cylab.cmu.edu/about/bio_schmidt.html| access-date= 2009-05-15| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170305034918/https://www.cylab.cmu.edu/about/bio_schmidt.html| archive-date= 2017-03-05| url-status= dead}} He was a professor of practice at the Georgia Institute of Technology's GTISC, professor of research at Idaho State University, adjunct distinguished fellow with Carnegie Mellon's CyLab, and a distinguished fellow with the Ponemon Institute.{{cite web | title= Ponemon Institute | url= http://www.ponemon.org/ponemon-institute-fellows/#schmidt | access-date= 2009-05-15 | archive-date= 2019-04-21 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190421114738/https://www.ponemon.org/ponemon-institute-fellows#schmidt | url-status= dead }}
Biography
= Public service =
Schmidt began his government service in the United States Air Force in 1967, where he studied chemical weapons, high explosives, and nuclear weapons while attending munitions school. Between 1968 and 1974, Schmidt completed three tours of duty in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.{{cite web | title= Cyberthreat: protecting u.s. information networks | url=https://fas.org/irp/threat/cyber/docs/usia/pj48bios.htm}} He left active military duty in 1974, then started his civil service career at the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field, since renamed as the Barry M. Goldwater Air Force Range and served as chief of transportation and deputy director of resource management until 1982.
He served in the Arizona Air National Guard with the 161st Communications Squadron based at Phoenix International Airport, from 1989 until 1998.
Schmidt was a city police officer from 1983 to 1994 for the Chandler Police Department in Arizona where he served on the SWAT team and the Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Unit, and formed and led the Special Enforcement Team.{{cite web | title= Testimony before the Judiciary Committee on Cyber Terrorisom U.S. Senate | url= http://kyl.senate.gov/legis_center/subdocs/022404_schmidt.pdf | access-date= 2009-05-15 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090430055602/http://kyl.senate.gov/legis_center/subdocs/022404_schmidt.pdf | archive-date= 2009-04-30 | url-status= dead }} In 1994 he took a position with the FBI's National Drug Intelligence Center, where he headed the Computer Exploitation Team.{{cite web | title= Infosecurity Europe is proud to host the Infosecurity Europe Hall of Fame | url= http://www.reedexpo.com/app/homepage.cfm?appname=100266&moduleid=3037&K_MAG_ID=5936&K_MT_ID=181&step=FullStory&iSourceID=100266&type=magazine }}{{Dead link|date=January 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} After working at the FBI, in 1994, Schmidt joined the Air Force Office of Special Investigations (AFOSI) Computer Forensic Lab and Computer Crime and Information Warfare Division.{{cite web | title= Testimony of Howard Schmidt – Special Agent, Director of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Computer Crime Investigations | url= http://www.ciec.org/transcripts/April_12_Schmidt.html | access-date= 2009-05-15 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181114224757/http://www.ciec.org/transcripts/April_12_Schmidt.html | archive-date= 2018-11-14 | url-status= dead }} as a supervisory special agent and director. In 1996, while serving in that position, he established the first dedicated computer forensic lab in the government, which was the basis for the formation of the Defense Computer Forensic Laboratory (DCFL).{{cite web | title= Is Cyberspace Secure? | url= http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/is-cyberspace-secure-an-interview-with-howard-schmidt | access-date= 2009-05-15 | archive-date= 2009-05-24 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20090524033650/http://www.thenewatlantis.com/publications/is-cyberspace-secure-an-interview-with-howard-schmidt | url-status= dead }}
In 1998, Schmidt transferred to the U.S. Army Reserves as a special agent, Criminal Investigation Division, where he was assigned to the Computer Crime Investigations Unit (CCIU). He has also served with the 315th MP Det (CID) at Ft. Lawton in Washington. He has testified as an expert witness in federal and military courts in the areas of computer crime, computer forensics and Internet crime.{{cite web | title= Testimony of Howard Schmidt Special Agent, Director of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations, Computer Crime Investigations | url= http://w2.eff.org/legal/cases/EFF_ACLU_v_DoJ/960412_schmidt.testimony | access-date= 2009-05-15 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160305030148/https://w2.eff.org/legal/cases/EFF_ACLU_v_DoJ/960412_schmidt.testimony | archive-date= 2016-03-05 | url-status= dead }}
In May 2003, Schmidt retired from the White House after 31 years of public service in local and federal government. After the 9/11 attacks, he was appointed by President Bush as the Vice Chair of the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board and as the special adviser for cyberspace security for the White House in December 2001.{{cite news | title= Cybersecurity and Homeland Defense | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/liveonline/02/technews/technews_schmidt050202.htm | newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=May 4, 2010}} While at the White House, he assisted in the creation of the US National Strategy to Secure CyberSpace.{{cite web | title= US government unveils cybersecurity plan | url= http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,2122576,00.htm | access-date= 2009-05-15 | archive-date= 2008-05-16 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080516160028/http://news.zdnet.co.uk/internet/0,1000000097,2122576,00.htm | url-status= dead }} He assumed the role as the chair in January 2003 until his retirement in May 2003, when he joined eBay.{{cite web| title= Schmidt Leaves CyberSecurity Post| url= http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Schmidt-Leaves-CyberSecurity-Post/}}{{Dead link|date=December 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
On Tuesday, December 22, 2009, Schmidt was named as the United States' top computer security advisor to President Barack Obama. Previously, Schmidt served as a cyber-adviser in President George W. Bush's White House and has served as chief security strategist for the US CERT Partners Program for the National Cyber Security Division through Carnegie Mellon University, in support of the Department of Homeland Security. He has served as vice president and chief information security officer and chief security strategist for eBay.{{cite web|title=EBay cracks down on fraud |url=http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0,39024667,10004904,00.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080307190013/http://networks.silicon.com/webwatch/0%2C39024667%2C10004904%2C00.htm |archive-date=2008-03-07 }}
In May 2012, Schmidt announced that he would be stepping down as the White House's CyberSecurity Coordinator at the end of the month, citing a desire to focus on family and pursue teaching in the cyber field. He was replaced by Michael Daniel, chief of the White House budget office's intelligence branch.{{cite news|last=Nakashima|first=Ellen|title=White House's cybersecurity official retiring|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/white-houses-cybersecurity-official-retiring/2012/05/16/gIQAX6fmUU_story.html|access-date=21 May 2012|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=16 May 2012}}
= Private industry and professional organizations =
Schmidt also had an active career in private industry and professional organizations.
In 1997, Schmidt joined Microsoft, as the director of information security, chief information security officer (CISO), and chief security officer (CSO). He was the co-founder of the Trustworthy Computing Security Strategies Group.{{cite web | title= Howard Schmidt | url= http://hackerhalted.com/HowardSchmidt/tabid/110/Default.aspx | access-date= 2009-05-15 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140605043813/http://hackerhalted.com/HowardSchmidt/tabid/110/Default.aspx | archive-date= 2014-06-05 | url-status= dead }}
Schmidt served on the executive committee of the Information Technology Sector Coordination Council. His memberships include the High Technology Crime Investigation Association, the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the International Association of Chiefs of Police. He has testified before congressional committees on computer security and cyber crime {{cite web | title=Testimony before the Judiciary Committee on Cyber Terrorisom U.S. Senate | url=http://www.globalsecurity.org/security/library/congress/2004_h/040224-schmidt.htm}} and has featured on various worldwide television and radio shows including, BBC, ABC, CNN, CNBC, Fox TV talking about cyber-security, investigations and technology.{{cite news | title= Cyber attack 'under control'| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/2695537.stm | work=BBC News | date=January 26, 2003 | access-date=January 5, 2010}}{{cite web | title=Bush's War Room: Howard Schmidt |website = ABC News| url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/story?id=121057&page=1}} He is a co-author of The Black Book on Corporate Security and author of Patrolling CyberSpace, Lessons Learned from a Lifetime in Data Security.{{cite web | title= Howard Schmidt patrols cyberspace |date = 20 December 2007| url=http://www.networkworld.com/newsletters/sec/2007/1217sec2.html?page=2}}
Schmidt was the first president of the Information Technology Information Sharing and Analysis Center.{{cite news | title= Center to be established for cyber-security | url=http://edition.cnn.com/2001/TECH/computing/01/16/it.isac.idg/index.html | work=CNN | first=Peter | last=Sayer | access-date=May 4, 2010 | date=January 16, 2001}} He is a former executive board member of the International Organization of Computer Evidence, and served as the co-chairman of the Federal Computer Investigations Committee. He served as a board member for the CyberCrime Advisory Board of the National White Collar Crime Center, and was a distinguished special lecturer at the University of New Haven, Conn., teaching a graduate certificate course in forensic computing. He has also taught courses for the FBI and DEA on the use of computers and law enforcement investigations.
He served as an augmented member to the President's Committee of Advisors on Science and Technology in the formation of an Institute for Information Infrastructure Protection.
Schmidt has been appointed to the Information Security Privacy Advisory Board to advise the National Institute of Standards and Technology the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget on information security and privacy issues pertaining to federal government information systems.{{cite web| title= Georgia Tech – College of Computing| url= http://www.cc.gatech.edu/news/howard-schmidt-receives-two-distinguished-honors/| access-date= 2009-05-15| archive-date= 2018-11-19| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20181119011054/https://www.cc.gatech.edu/news/howard-schmidt-receives-two-distinguished-honors/| url-status= dead}}
Schmidt was also on the International Multilateral Partnership Against Cyber Threats (IMPACT) International Advisory Board.{{cite web | url=http://www.impact-alliance.org/aboutus/profile-of-IAB-members.html | title=About Us }}
Publications
- Patrolling Cyberspace, Lessons Learned from a Lifetime in Data Security {{ISBN|0-9776895-2-2}}
See also
See :Category:Computer security for a list of all computing and information-security related articles.
References
{{reflist|2}}
External links
- {{C-SPAN|82576}}
- [http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/qna/0,289202,sid14_gci1246660,00.html Information Security News: Q&A, Schmidt: Cybersecurity a private affair, 3/8/07]
- [https://web.archive.org/web/20070621101135/http://www.csoonline.com/read/030104/ground.html CSO – The Resource for Security Executives, March 2004]
- [http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A50606-2002Jun26?language=printer—Timeline The US Government and Cybersecurity, May, 2003]
- [http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,80549,00.html Howard Schmidt leaving government cybersecurity job]{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626150041/http://www.computerworld.com/securitytopics/security/story/0,10801,80549,00.html |date=2007-06-26 }}
- [http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2002/11/mil-021104-295e6199.htm—11/4/02 Background Report on Cyber-Terrorism]
- [http://www.ilpf.org/conference2002/speakers_schmidt.html ILPF Conference 2002 (speaker Bio for conference)]
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Category:Military personnel from Philadelphia
Category:People from Muskego, Wisconsin
Category:People associated with computer security
Category:University of Phoenix alumni
Category:Idaho State University faculty
Category:United States Air Force Office of Special Investigations