New cybersecurity czar resigns... two weeks in

The White House's new Cybersecurity czar Melissa Hathaway has already resigned, according to an article from the Washington Post.

Melissa E. Hathaway, who also served as a cybersecurity aide during the Bush administration, had been a contender for the position of cybersecurity coordinator. But in an interview Monday, she said she had withdrawn her application.

"I wasn't willing to continue to wait any longer, because I'm not empowered right now to continue to drive the change," she said. "I've concluded that I can do more now from a different role," most likely in the private sector.

Man that was quick.

It's hard to say why this occurred considering that the look for a new advisor was hailed with much ballyhoo.  But I guess it was much ado about nothing.  There is no doubt that the government's overall defense network is in shambles; over the Independence Day weekend, DOS attacks took down several of its websites.  Many believe that a large, private service like Amazon or EBay deal with these things with ease all of the time.

Hathaway did say that the confirmation process was taking too long and that the overall process was very political.  I can't say that I am surprised; the federal government is very political.  It always has been and always will be.