CybersecurityLute to leave DHS after shepherding cybersecurity executive order effort

Jane Holl Lute, the deputy secretary of DHS, will leave the department to pursue her interest in the international Internet business.

Yahoo News reports that  Lute said  she would give the agency notice this week. Lute was involved in formulating DHS position on cybersecurity, especially with the shift in  President Barack Obama’s executive order on cybersecurity from two months ago, in which the role of private industry and DHS in bolstering Internet security was emphasized, and the role of  the National Security Agency (NSA) diminished.

Analysts attribute to Lute an important role in thishe change in the administration’s policy.

“The national narrative on cyber has evolved,” Yahoo News quotes Lute to say. “It’s not a war zone, and we certainly cannot manage it as if were a war zone. We’re not going to manage it as if it were an intelligence program or one big law-enforcement operation.”

Before joining DHS four years ago, Lute served in the UN  as the assistant secretary-general supporting peacekeeping missions. Lute also worked at the National Security Council (NSC) under presidents George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton.

Google executive Vint Cerf praised Lute’s contributions to DHS.

“Jane Lute was a relentless voice of clarity in helping to define the proper purpose and role of government in securing the Internet,” Cerf, a founder of the Internet and co-author of the core protocols for Internet transmission, said. “DHS can take advantage of some extraordinary talent at NSA, but it’s wise for us to keep that under civilian management. That’s the way our Constitution says it’s supposed to work.”

Lute noted that the added responsibilities of DHS in the cubersecurity realm would require improved recruitment of cyber talent by the department.

Lute also described  Congress’ inability to pass a cybersecurity bill “incomprehensible,” saying the  bill would do more for U.S. cybersecurity  than Obama’s executive order.

“We want to build the most secure cyber-economy on Earth.  We know what we need to do for that to happen, and the inability of legislation to pass to this point is inexplicable.”