But Jim Lewis, director of the Center for Strategic and International Study's Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th presidency, believes the cyber czar's waning authority was a factor.

FORBES: Security

On the other hand, Harris added that there's no reason the new cyber czar can't balance security and economic development, two values that she contends aren't mutually exclusive.

FORBES: Security

"It's not unreasonable that the NSC and NEC both oversee the cyber czar's activities, but a powerful person may not want to be in that position, " Alan Paller, the director of the security-focused SANS Institute told Forbes in July.

FORBES: Magazine Article

But what tech czar Kendall sees is that cyber threats morph too fast for the deliberative procedures of the current military development system, and they hopscotch across geographical and bureaucratic boundaries in a way that no conventional law-enforcement agency could match.

FORBES: Pentagon Tech Chief Points To Big Problem In Protecting Networks