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White House reportedly eliminates top cybersecurity role

Seems like bad timing?

Sean Hollister Senior Editor / Reviews
When his parents denied him a Super NES, he got mad. When they traded a prize Sega Genesis for a 2400 baud modem, he got even. Years of Internet shareware, eBay'd possessions and video game testing jobs after that, he joined Engadget. He helped found The Verge, and later served as Gizmodo's reviews editor. When he's not madly testing laptops, apps, virtual reality experiences, and whatever new gadget will supposedly change the world, he likes to kick back with some games, a good Nerf blaster, and a bottle of Tejava.
Sean Hollister
2 min read
National Security Adviser To President Trump John Bolton Speaks To Media At The White House

US National Security Adviser John Bolton.

Mark Wilson / Getty Images

Politico, The Hill and CNN report that the Trump adminstration has eliminated the White House position of cybersecurity coordinator, a role President Obama first established in 2009, at a time when hacks and cybersecurity threats weren't as commonplace as they are today.

Here are just a few very recent examples you may recall:

And that's not to mention the state-sponsored hacks that might have affected the integrity of the 2016 US presidential election, or the Equifax breach that affected over 145 million people in the US, or ongoing worries about foreign hackers potentially attacking the US infrastructure.

The National Security Council reportedly argues the move's about reducing bureaucracy, not reducing security, according to a statement obtained by several news outlets.

Detractors say the role was important symbolically, though, and perhaps structurally as well -- Senator Mark Warner, a Virginia Democrat, says the coordinator was "the only person in the federal government tasked with delivering a coordinated, whole-of-government response to the growing cyber threats facing our nation."

Here's a thread full of tweets by Warner:

And a tweet from Sen. Martin Heinrich, Democrat from New Mexico, anticipating this move:

The White House didn't respond to a request for comment.

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