"Educating Web users about risks, working better with other governments, and increasing federal support for cybersecurity research and development will be among the top priorities for the new U.S. White House cybersecurity director.
Howard Schmidt, on the job for a week, said Wednesday that one of his goals is to create a national cybersecurity education campaign to help Web users protect themselves. Although Schmidt's focus will primarily be on protecting U.S. government networks, his office will work closely with private groups to educate Web users and businesses about better cybersecurity practices, he said during a speech at the Congressional Internet Caucus' State of the 'Net conference.
Schmidt asked conference attendees for their help in creating a national cybersecurity campaign.
Education is important, he said, but end-users shouldn't bear all the responsibility for protecting their computers. He called for better security at businesses and from vendors that kept tough security decisions away from end-users."