Topic: Howard Schmidt

The discovery of the Heartbleed bug by security firm Codenomicon and Google researcher Neel Mehta is scrutinized for its suspicious timing and connections to government spooks. Howard A. Schmidt, a former White House cybersecurity coordinator, serves as the chairman of Codenomicon, while Mehta has ties to the Freedom of the Press Foundation. The hosts question the "coincidental" simultaneous discovery of a two-year-old bug by two separate entities.

The Obama administration issued a formal response to "We the People" petitions regarding SOPA and online piracy on January 14, 2012. Chief Technology Officer Anish Chopra and other officials expressed opposition to tampering with the technical architecture of the internet through DNS manipulation. The administration encouraged private parties and content creators to adopt voluntary measures to reduce piracy rather than relying solely on legislation.

Acting cybersecurity czar Melissa Hathaway announced her resignation following a bureaucratic struggle over whether her post should report to the National Economic Council or the National Security Council. Potential successors for the "czar" position include Franklin Kramer and former eBay security officer Howard Schmidt.