Ex-DHS Cyber Exec to Head ICANN

Beckstrom is New CEO of Internet Naming Group
Ex-DHS Cyber Exec to Head ICANN
Rod Beckstrom, a top Homeland Security cybersecurity leader who quit in a huff in March, will be the new chief executive of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, ICANN announced Friday.

Beckstrom, an author and entrepreneur, served as director of the U.S. National Cyber Center until March, when he resigned, issuing a cautionary statement warning of the growing influence of the National Security Agency and Defense Department over civilian cybersecurity, and the lack of funding for government cybersecurity. (See DHS-NSA Turf War Behind Official's Resignation.)

In his new post, Beckstrom will oversee the organization responsible for assigning domain names and IP addresses on the Internet. "The Internet has changed the way the world communicates and conducts commerce," Beckstrom said in a statement announcing his appointment. "And in no small way, this multi-stakeholder, bottom-up organization has been and will continue to be at the core of the Internet's on-going evolution. Quite simply, the proof that ICANN works, is that the Internet works."

The ICANN statement announcing Beckstrom's appointment included endorsements of the new CEO from a wide range of technology industry and government luminaries, including Vint Cerf, known as the father of the Internet; Google CEO Eric Schmidt; Sen. Olympia Snowe of Maine; Rep. Bernie Thompson, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee; Motorola Chairman David Dorman; and Electronic Privacy Information Center Executive Director Marc Rotenberg.

According to the ICANN statement, Beckstrom has been an active participant in the not-for-profit arena, serving on the board of trustees of the Environmental Defense Fund and the Jamii Bora Trust, a micro-lending group based in Nairobi, Kenya, with more than 210,000 members. A co-author of four books, Beckstrom's most recent, The Starfish and the Spider: The Unstoppable Power of Leaderless Organizations, details how diverse and untraditional organizations, can become virtually self-perpetuating, regardless of the status of their respective leadership.


About the Author

Eric Chabrow

Eric Chabrow

Retired Executive Editor, GovInfoSecurity

Chabrow, who retired at the end of 2017, hosted and produced the semi-weekly podcast ISMG Security Report and oversaw ISMG's GovInfoSecurity and InfoRiskToday. He's a veteran multimedia journalist who has covered information technology, government and business.




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