Howard A. Schmidt, a friend to many in the security community, has died. A statement on his Facebook page says that he died today “in the presence of his wife and four sons … following a long battle with cancer.”
Schmidt served as the White House Cybersecurity Advisor to Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush, and later became the first Cybersecurity Coordinator and Special Assistant to the President of the United States during the Obama Administration. He served in that position until May of 2012 when Michael Daniel, former chief of the White House budget office’s intelligence branch, took over the position. Schmidt went on to serve as chairman of the board of Codenomicon, now a part of Black Duck.
Last month, Schmidt, who held both CISSP and CISM certifications, was honored with the 2016 (ISC)² Harold F. Tipton Lifetime Achievement Award.