Yoran, who is hardly a household name but well known within the cybersecurity community, will be the government's evangelist for convincing Americans to improve their computer defenses against hackers, disgruntled employees, commercial rivals and foreign governments.

Yoran, a Symantec vice president, also will be responsible for carrying out dozens of recommendations in the administration's "National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace," a set of proposals to better protect computer networks.

"There are a number of challenges, but I wouldn't point to any one in particular and say it's the most difficult to overcome," Yoran said. "There's definitely a lot of work ahead of us."

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