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Rod Beckstrom

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Rod Beckstrom
BornFebruary 1961
NationalityAmerican
Alma materStanford University,M.B.A.
Occupation(s)American author
high-tech entrepreneur
Websitebeckstrom

Rod Beckstrom(born February 1961) is an American author, high-tech entrepreneur, and former CEO and President ofICANN.He previously served as Director of theNational Cybersecurity Center.

Education and early work

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Beckstrom received his BA with Honors and Distinction and an MBA fromStanford University,where he served as the Chairman of the Council of Presidents of the Associated Students of Stanford University.[citation needed]

In August 2007, Beckstrom and Peter Thoeny, author ofTWikico-launched TWIKI.NET, aWeb 2.0company that supportsTWiki,an open source wiki. Beckstrom became Chairman and Chief Catalyst. He was also co-founder, Chairman and CEO of CATS Software Inc., a derivatives and risk management software company which went public onNASDAQand later was sold toMisysPLC.[citation needed]

Author

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He is co-author of the best-selling bookThe Starfish and the Spider,which lays out a new organizational theory for considering all organizations as existing on a continuum between centralized to decentralized, with different implications and strategies for each firm based upon their position on that axis. In interviews withThe Washington Post[1]andUSA Today,[2]Beckstrom explains how, using the 'Starfish' concept illustrated inThe Starfish and the Spider,the U.S. Government can take a different approach in their dealings withAl-Qaeda.Beckstrom is also the formulator of an economic model for valuing networks,Beckstrom's law,which was presented at BlackHat 2009 and Defcon 2009.

Beckstrom, a pioneer in the field ofderivatives tradingand firm-wide risk management, was coached by Nobel LaureateWilliam F. Sharpe,which resulted in the first book on a new theory, "Value at Risk."[citation needed]

National Cyber Security Center

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On March 20, 2008, Beckstrom was appointed to run the newly createdNational Cybersecurity Center,[3]a position requiring "advanced thought leadership in areas like coordination, collaboration and team work in order to best serve the mission".[4][5][6]

On March 5, 2009, less than a year after the position was created, he stated that he would resign as the Director of theNational Cybersecurity Center(NCSC) on Friday, March 13, 2009.[7]He has recommended the Deputy Director Mary Ellen Seale as his successor.[7]He stated that a lack of cooperation from theNSAand insufficient funding led to his resignation.[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19]He stated that he received $500,000 which funded five weeks of operation.[20][21]He has stated that he supports a more decentralized approach and opposes the NSA's move to try to "rule over" the NCSC.[18][22]

Presidency of ICANN

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Interview with Beckstrom on his time as CEO of ICANN

On 25 June 2009, at its 35th meeting in Sydney, Australia, the Board ofICANNresolved to appoint Rod Beckstrom as its CEO and President.[23]At ICANN, he presided over a number of notable developments, including the 15 July 2010DNSSEC signing of the DNS root,and the 20 June 2011 opening of thegTLDnamespace to additional applicants.[24]On July 1, 2012 he was succeeded as CEO by ICANN's COO as CEO pro tem who served in that capacity until Beckstrom's permanent replacementFadi Chehadewas able to take up his position on 1 October 2012.[25][26]


Investor

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Rod Beckstrom is the leadangel investorin the Encino, CA-based software development company American Legalnet Inc.[27][better source needed]

Volunteer work

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An active participant in the non-profit arena, Beckstrom serves on the board of trustees ofEnvironmental Defense Fund,an organization involved in designing, advocating and implementing environmental policy solutions, such as theKyoto Protocoland the California Climate Act. He is also a trustee of Jamii Bora Trust, a micro-lending group with 170,000 members, based in Nairobi.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^"Follow the Leader, or Think Like a Starfish?".The Washington Post.1 January 2007. pp. A11.
  2. ^Jones, Del (3 January 2007)."Can small businesses help win the war?".USA Today.Retrieved22 May2010.
  3. ^Gorman, Siobhan (20 March 2008)."Outsider to Run Cyber-Security Initiative".The Wall Street Journal.pp. A8.
  4. ^Krebs, Brian (27 March 2008)."White House Taps Tech Entrepreneur For Cyber Defense Post".The Washington Post.Retrieved22 May2010.
  5. ^Naraine, Ryan (21 March 2008)."Tech Exec Picked for Top Cyber-Security Post".Security.Eweek.Retrieved10 March2009.
  6. ^Shachtman, Noah (21 March 2008)."Military Surrenders Cyber Security to the Starfish".Info War, Paper Pushers & Powerpoint Rangers.Wired Blog.Retrieved10 March2009.
  7. ^abBeckstrom, Rod (5 March 2009)."Beckstrom Resignation"(PDF).Resignation Letter.U.S. Department of Homeland Security.Retrieved9 March2009.
  8. ^GORMAN, SIOBHAN (7 March 2009)."Cybersecurity Chief Resigns".Politics.The Wall Street Journal.Retrieved9 March2009.
  9. ^"Federal Cybersecurity Chief Quits, Blasts National Security Agency".Scitech.The Wall Street Journal. 8 March 2009.Retrieved9 March2009.
  10. ^Claburn, Thomas (9 March 2009)."U.S. Cybersecurity Director Resigns, Blames NSA".Rod Beckstrom criticizes the NSA's dominance of most of the nation's cybersecurity initiatives.InformationWeek. Archived fromthe originalon 10 March 2009.Retrieved9 March2009.
  11. ^Acohido, Byron."National cybersecurity director resigns; cites roadblocks".USA Today. Archived fromthe originalon 10 March 2009.Retrieved10 March2009.
  12. ^Mark, Roy (9 March 2009)."This URL has been excluded from the Wayback Machine".Security.Eweek. Archived fromthe originalon 22 January 2013.Retrieved10 March2009.
  13. ^Zetter, Kim (9 March 2009)."NSA Chief Continues Bid to Take Over Cybersecurity".Cybersecurity.Wired Blog.Retrieved10 March2009.
  14. ^Shachtman, Noah (6 March 2009)."Cyber-Security Czar Quits Amid Fears of NSA Takeover".Homeland Security.Wired Blog.Retrieved10 March2009.
  15. ^McCullagh, Declan (6 March 2009)."Cybersecurity official quits, blasts NSA power grab".Politics and Law.Cnet News.Retrieved10 March2009.
  16. ^"Top US cybersecurity official quits".AFP Google. 7 March 2009. Archived fromthe originalon 10 March 2009.Retrieved10 March2009.
  17. ^Holmes, Allan (9 March 2009)."Cyber an NSA, Not a DHS, Thing".Tech insider.nextgov. Archived fromthe originalon 10 March 2009.Retrieved10 March2009.
  18. ^abResende, Patricia (9 March 2009)."Cybersecurity Chief Resigns Amid Power Struggle".newsfactor.Retrieved10 March2009.
  19. ^San Miguel, Renay (9 March 2009)."Political Turf Wars Drive Out US Cybersecurity Chief".Security.TechNewsWorld.Retrieved10 March2009.
  20. ^Greenberg, Andy (9 March 2009)."Top Cyber Official Sounds Off".Cyber Security.Forbes. Archived fromthe originalon 18 September 2012.Retrieved10 March2009.
  21. ^Baldor, Lolita C.;Sullivan, Eileen(7 March 2009)."Cybersecurity director resigns amid turf battles".Associated Press.Archived fromthe originalon 10 March 2009.Retrieved10 March2009.
  22. ^Zetter, Kim (9 March 2009)."Outgoing DHS Cyber Chief Expands on Why He Resigned".Cybersecurity.Wired Blog.Retrieved10 March2009.
  23. ^ICANN (26 June 2009)."Internet Security Expert Named ICANN CEO"(PDF).ICANN.ICANN.Retrieved26 June2009.
  24. ^Murphy, Kevin (20 June 2011)."World braces for domain name EXPLOSION, ICANN approves dot-everything".London: The Register.Archivedfrom the original on 23 June 2011.
  25. ^Staff (22 June 2012)."Icann hire Fadi Chehade as new chief executive".BBC News.
  26. ^Jesdanun, Anick (23 June 2012)."Internet group picks little-known executive as CEO".The Austin Statesman.Austin, Texas. Archived fromthe originalon 23 June 2012.
  27. ^"Rob Beckstrom's profile on LinkedIn".LinkedIn.LinkedIn.
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