Hill staffer Bhalotra to White House cyber team

By Ellen Nakashima

Sameer Bhalotra, an expert among Congressional aides on all things cyber - from protecting computer systems from attack to oversight of spy agencies that break into enemy networks - is heading to the White House. He will become Senior Director for Cyber, working for Howard Schmidt, the White House cyber security coordinator.

Bhalotra's move comes as Capitol Hill is considering several pieces of cyber legislation that would affect who in government is in charge of cyber and the extent of industry regulation. The White House has not been engaged with the Hill on any particular bill, though that is now likely to change.

Bhalotra, who holds a PhD in physics, served three and a half years on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and was known for his "cyber jams" in which staffers from the House and Senate could get briefings from officials such as Schmidt, or on issues such as vulnerability of the electric grid to cyber attacks, as well as to visit companies with "critical" computer networks.

"Sameer has served as the lead expert on the committee for cyber-related matters, the National Security Agency and other classified programs of a technical nature," said Committee Chairwoman Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) "He is extremely intelligent, inquisitive, driven, able to communicate complex subjects simply, and has won respect on both sides of the aisle...The committee's loss is the president's gain."