What You Missed: Open for Questions on Cybersecurity Awareness

Posted by White House

As part of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt answered your questions in a live video chat. We took your questions from Facebook and About.com, and covered a range of questions from cyber crime to social network safety to mobile technology protection -- plus a lot more.

You can watch the full video of the chat or use the links below to jump to the questions that you're interested in. Visit DHS.gov/Cyber and OnGuardOnline.gov for more information about practices that can enhance the security of our shared cyber networks.

Use the links below to jump directly to a question (questions are paraphrased).

• Opening Remarks
• Does the Obama administration regard the wide-open nature of the internet as an asset or a liability?
• What is the greatest single cyber security threat that you face today?
• Are there plans to leverage the hearts and minds of Americans with crowd sourcing strategies to protect us from cyber crime?
• What guidelines are currently in place regarding federal government employees taking their laptops home?
• On Facebook, there have been several applications released that have the capability of obtaining personal information from users, what are you doing to prevent this?
• How concerned is the White House that the internet is serving as an environment for international cyber crime? What are you doing to prevent this?
• Is there a cyber security emergency system in place?
• Is the Administration going to be taking steps to protect taxpayers’ personal information?
• If you are a victim of cyber crime, how do you report it?
• What steps will the Federal Government take to hire new cyber security professionals?
• Are we doing anything to inform seniors to the internet?
• What’s being done to protect the privacy of our health records online? How can we recover from the inevitable leaks of information on the internet?
• Is there an emphasis on protection of information on mobile devices?
• What are the major points of the Tech plan for the US Government?
• Is the US Government planning to give free and daily up-to-date anti-virus and firewall software sometime in the future?

Open for Questions: Howard Schmidt on Cyber Security Awareness

Posted by White House

As part of National Cyber Security Awareness Month, Howard Schmidt, Cybersecurity Coordinator and Special Assistant to the President, will be answering your questions about Awareness Month, the “Stop.Think.Connect” initiative to encourage safety online and the things that people and businesses can do to protect themselves in a live video chat on Wednesday, October 20th at 1:30 p.m. EDT.

“National Cybersecurity Awareness Month is the time of the year we need to stop and realize all the things we can do collectively to keep our selves cyber-educated, cyber-smart, and cyber-assured,” Schmidt wrote in a blog post kicking off the month.

Don't miss the live Open for Questions event with Howard Schmidt on Wednesday, October 20^th at 1:30 p.m. EDT. Here's how you can participate:

• Ask your questions in advance on Facebook
• Watch the chat through WhiteHouse.gov/live
• Join the discussion live through the White House Facebook application

In a proclamation, President Obama reflected his continued commitment to cybersecurity as a national priority and “urge[d] all Americans to visit DHS.gov/Cyber and OnGuardOnline.gov for more information about practices that can enhance the security of our shared cyber networks.”