It's a bit of a hackneyed question that reporters ask a top executive every now and then: "What keeps you up at night?" It's been asked of federal information technology managers, too, and the answer typically has been the lack of cybersecurity. Information security seems to be the cause of a lack of sleep for President Obama, too.
From the Associated Press:
President Barack Obama says he's a night owl.Obama tells C-SPAN in an interview airing Saturday [May 23] that after he's had dinner with his family and tucked his daughters into bed, he typically stays up until midnight going through a big stack of material he's taken into the White House residence.
He says he sometimes pushes the big stack aside to do some writing and focus on some of the issues "that are coming down the pike" -- rather than immediate issues.
He says one example is a comprehensive plan to deal with national cybersecurity. Obama says that if he doesn't build in what he calls "some thought time," then these kind of issues can keep getting pushed aside by "the constant churning of events."
COMMENTS
I believe that Barack is right here. Cybersecurity is a very
significant and growing problem that needs addressing
in a comprehensive way. His recent announcment was
a bit lacking I thought, but I was hartened that he recognizes the depth and importance as well as the
severity of the problem. As a IT security professional,
I know that there are solutions but that we all are also
dealing with a moving target and that a good solution
today in a year or two will be no good at all.
Jeffrey A. Williams 05/30/09 08:23 pm ET
I am encouraged by the presidents work ethic, but I hope that the job does not become detrimental to his health. He appears to be fairly healthy from my vantage point at this stage in his Presidency but I would trust that this is one of the challenges of the position. Still I think he sets an example in many areas, and his work ethic is to me quite encouraging, but may God help him to keep a good balance, keep his family and keep his health.
Chapken 05/27/09 09:25 am ET