White House cyber security coordinator Howard Schmidt joins Qualys

Former White House cyber security coordinator Howard Schmidt is to join the board of security and compliance company Qualys.

Howard Schmidt announced he was to step down as White House cyber czar in May after two and a half years. Michael Daniel, former intelligence branch head of the White House budget office, succeeds Howard Schmidt in his White House role.

Schmidt was president of the Information Security Forum, based in the UK, when he was named US national cyber security coordinator in December 2009.

He oversaw the creation of the White House’s first legislative proposal on cyber security. He proved one of the driving forces behind a plan to verify individual identities online, called the National Strategy for Trusted Identities in Cyberspace (NSTIC).

Schmidt previously served as a White House adviser on cyber issues during the administration of President George W. Bush. He is also a former US Air Force officer and chief information security officer at Microsoft. 

Qualys said Schmidt will help the company expand its presence in the US federal government and further build industry collaboration through the CSO Interchange, a forum for chief security officers co-founded with Philippe Courtot, chairman and CEO of Qualys, in May 2004.

“By delivering security and compliance services through the cloud, Qualys has been a leader in helping organisations and government agencies monitor and protect against the constantly changing threat landscape,” said Schmidt.

“I look forward to working with the Qualys team on the new security challenges that businesses and government agencies are facing today, so we can arm them with the best solutions to enhance their security and compliance posture," Schmidt said.

The Qualys board of directors is led by Philippe Courtot and includes: General Peter Pace, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff for the US Armed Forces; Sandra England Bergeron, chairman of the board for TraceSecurity and former executive at McAfee; Donald Dixon, managing director for Trident Capital; Jeffrey Hank, vice-president and corporate controller for Intuit; and Yves Sisteron, managing partner and co-founder for GRP Partners.