The Pentagon's newly released 2010 Quadrennial Review highlights cyberspace as a key point of vulnerability that could be exploited by America's adversaries and calls for increased centralization of USCYBERCOM, to coordinate defense operations in cyberspace. This agency, created in June 2009, is a subdivision of U.S. Strategic Command and will now have increased support from its other branches.

"Although it is a manmade domain, cyberspace is now as relevant a domain for DoD activities as the naturally occurring domains of land, sea, air, and space," the report reads. "DoD needs to collaborate with other U.S. departments and agencies and international partners both to support their efforts and to ensure our ability to operate in cyberspace. This mutual assistance includes information sharing, support for law enforcement, defense support to civil authorities, and homeland defense."

Secretary of State Clinton spoke at the Newseum to announce new efforts to promote safety and freedom online. Clinton also announced another conference scheduled for February to discuss cyber freedom with major computing companies.

Clinton called on the Chinese to hold a transparent investigation of the hack on more than 20 companies that originated within their borders in mid-December.

Google's office in China announced Tuesday that the secure files of its users were hacked in mid-December in an attempt to disrupt and gain access to the private e-mails of users worldwide who support human rights causes in China. In response, Google announced that its Chinese search engine would no longer censor content deemed subversive on behalf of the Chinese government, and that the company is considering ending its company's business presence in the country.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Wednesday that Obama backs the universal right to an uncensored Internet, and that the president is discussing the situation with Google. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is also awaiting a response from Chinese officials about the highly sophisticated cyberattack.

Obama finally tapped a cybersecurity czar Tuesday, "nearly seven months after highlighting to the nation's vulnerability banking, energy and communications systems to Internet attacks."

"The decision to appoint Howard A. Schmidt, an industry executive with government experience who served as a cybersecurity adviser in the Bush administration and who also has a military and law enforcement background, is seen as a compromise between factions," the New York Times reports.

More than three months after Melissa Hathaway, the acting senior director for cybersecurity at the National Security Council, resigned, Obama still hasn't appointed a czar. Federal Times reports that the White House may be preparing to announce someone soon, perhaps around Thanksgiving.

Obama still has not appointed a cybersecurity czar. The acting senior director for cybersecurity at the National Security Council, Melissa Hathaway, resigned Aug. 3.

President Obama selected Melissa Hathaway to lead a review of governmental cybersecurity initiatives. Hathaway served as cyber coordination executive to the director of national intelligence and will serve as acting senior director for cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security councils during the 60-day review period.