Renegade Geek to Head Cyber Security

Outre tech entrepreneur Rod Beckström will top the White House’s new secretive cyber security initiative, the Wall Street Journal reports, to the surprise of many Washington insiders. Beckström is a Silicon Valley transplant without security experience, but he has developed a cult following in the security and intelligence communities for his book The Starfish and the Spider, which favors decentralized management.

So far, Bush has revealed little about the effort Beckström, who'll report directly to DHS head Michael Chertoff, will lead. Journal sources say the goal is to secure government networks, and then transfer those techniques to the private sector. Beckström could prove a valuable ambassador for that second phase, because of the tech sector's mistrust of Washington. (More Rod Beckström stories.)