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[reuters] The cybersecurity chief named to battle Internet viruses and larger challenges facing the information technology networks used by U.S. companies and national defense should be based in the White House, experts told a congressional panel on Friday.

Cybersecurity is important enough to warrant a White House staffer with real authority and a real budget, said Larry Clinton, president of the Internet Security Alliance and one of those who made recommendations to the Obama team.

“It can’t be just a figurehead,” he told an Energy and Commerce subcommittee. “We tend to think it should be somewhere in the White House structure.”

No date has been set for when, or if, such an appointment would be made.

Cyber chief needs to be in White House: experts