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Richard Clarke's New Team
by Bara Vaida
Howard Schmidt, Microsoft's chief security officer, is expected to leave within the next month to join the Bush administration and work with White House cyber-security adviser Richard Clarke, according to sources in the computer-security industry.
Mark Sachs, a U.S. Army major who is an operations analyst at the Joint Task Force for Computer Network Operations, also expected to join Clarke's team. The task force Sachs currently works for oversees the Pentagon's global information systems, sources said.
Clarke was named last month to head a new White House Office of Cyberspace Security that is to focus on developing a plan for protecting the nation's critical infrastructure.
Elsewhere in the Bush administration, Andrew Oosterbaan has been named chief of the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section in the Justice Department's Criminal Division. Oosterbaan devised and operated an undercover initiative known as Operation Avalanche that targeted online child pornography.
Cyber-Security Chatter
Meanwhile, Schmidt was busy on the Hill over the past two weeks. He attended several briefings with senators, including a morning meeting last Thursday with about a dozen Democrats. Attendees included senior security executives from: AOL Time Warner, AT&T, Arthur Andersen, Cisco Systems, CygnaCom, EDS, EMC, Entrust, Ernst & Young, Global Crossing, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, NCR, Network Associates, Oracle, Symantec, Veridian and VeriSign.
Washington lobbyists from many of the companies also attended. And Senate Democratic Steering Committee Chairman John Kerry, D-Mass., was among the senators who attended.
People at the meeting said the discussion revolved around what the government could do to boost computer security. Company officials requested an exemption from the Freedom of Information Act, saying it would make it easier to share information about cyber-security threats with the government.
In related news, Dittus Communications founder Gloria Dittus will host a Nov. 29 reception for technology and government leaders at her home to discuss the industry's role in boosting the nation's security. Phil Bond, the head of the Technology Administration, Business Software Alliance (BSA) President Robert Holleyman, CapNet Executive Director Tim Hugo, and Bruce Heiman, executive director of Americans for Computer Privacy, are expected to attend.
The Lobbying Shuffle
Robert Cresanti is leaving his post as a senior vice president at the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA) to join the BSA on Dec. 1. He will replace Becca Gould as vice president of public policy. Gould left earlier this year to join Dell Computer.
Before working at ITAA, Cresanti served as staff director of the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Financial Institutions. He filled the same role on the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem. He also was counsel and legislative assistant to Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah. At BSA, Cresanti will be responsible for both domestic and international policy, and will oversee BSA's newly launched Brussels office.
Elsewhere within the tech industry, Thomas Gann, the director of strategic alliances, global education and research at Sun Microsystems, is joining Siebel Systems as the vice president of government affairs. Gann replaces Michael Maibach, who left last month.
Siebel opened its office this summer and plans to be active in the policy debate over e-government. Gann helped start Sun's lobbying presence in Washington and was manager of federal affairs before deciding to move to the West Coast and work in Sun's business operations. He later returned to work on education policy in Washington for Sun.
And Kelly Carnes, an assistant Commerce secretary for technology policy under former President Clinton, has started her own consulting firm on technology law and policy. Carnes started TechVision21 this summer and officially launched the firm's Web site this past week.
The Money Chase
Arkansas Attorney General Mark Pryor's Senate race raised at least $250,000 in a Washington fundraiser earlier this month. The event was at the northwest Washington home of Thomas (Mack) McLarty, a White House chief of staff under Clinton, the Arkansas Democrat Gazette reported.
Pryor also raised "a small amount" of money in Silicon Valley several weeks ago through a fundraiser arranged by Leo Hindery, a former AT&T cable and Internet strategist and Global Crossing CEO. Pryor is challenging incumbent Sen. Tim Hutchinson, R-Ark., and is an early favorite of the moderate New Democrat Network (NDN).
Hindery also helped raised money for former Colorado Attorney General Tom Strickland, a Democrat, who is challenging Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo. Strickland visited Silicon Valley earlier this month and discussed the information technology economy with about 25 high-tech executives, said a spokeswoman for Strickland's campaign. Strickland is also getting monetary support from NDN.
In other fundraising news, TechNet has been forced to reschedule next week's Nov. 28 reception for members of the National Republican Senatorial Committee because of the prolonged congressional schedule. A new date has yet to be set.
And in other TechNet news, Kirsten Leaning has joined TechNet as one its new Republican political directors. She previously worked for Jane Clark, a northern California GOP fundraiser, and before that was director of development at the Pacific Research Institute in San Francisco. She replaces Katie Harrison, who left earlier this fall.
New Democrats On Board
NDN, meanwhile, has created a new advisory board whose members include people with ties to the technology industry. The board will include Electronic Industries Alliance President David McCurdy, Online Privacy Alliance Director Christine Varney, and former White House press secretary Mike McCurry, who is now the chairman and CEO of Grassroots Enterprise, an Internet-based advocacy management firm. Others on the board are former Rep. Vic Fazio, D-Calif., and former Army Secretary Louis Caldera.
The board is charged with raising NDN's profile and improving its operations. With the slowing economy, NDN and other fundraising organizations have found it tougher to raise money.
Warner Taps Techie For Va. Transition
Bobbie Kilberg, president of the Northern Virginia Technology Council (NVTC), is one of 30 Virginians from government, business, education and other fields who have been named to chair Gov.-elect Mark Warner's transition team.
The bipartisan team will help Warner fill key positions in his administration, as well as provide him with perspective on the state's various regional issues. Kilberg worked for former President George Bush as director of the White House Office of Public Liaison before heading the NVTC.
An Engineering Leader
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers-USA has elected Jim Leonard as president for 2003. He will take the position of president-elect beginning Jan. 1, 2002.
Leonard is a technical fellow in the military aircraft and missile systems unit of Boeing A&M in St. Louis. He is responsible for the integration of the air-to-surface harpoon and standoff land -attack missile into the Navy and Air Force, and non-U.S. aircraft. Leonard has been active in the engineering group for the past 15 years and will work closely with 2002 president LeEarl Bryant.
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