President Barack Obama said on Friday he would name a top cybersecurity official to the White House as he released a report that recommended how to safeguard the nation's cyber network.

Cyberspace is real and so are the risks that come with it, said Obama in remarks at the White House.

Obama also said that his administration would not dictate cybersecurity standards for private companies.

The tech industry had pushed for a cybersecurity official to be in the White House to assure access to the president.

The cybersecurity review, headed by Melissa Hathaway, had urged the president to name a White House coordinator to oversee cybersecurity. It also said that the private sector must be involved.

Now our virtual world is going viral, said Obama. We have only begun to explore the next generation of technologies that will transform our lives in ways we can't even begin imagine. So a new world awaits, a world of greater security and greater potential prosperity if we reach for it, if we leap.

Holes in U.S. cybersecurity defenses have allowed major incidents of thefts of personal identity, money, intellectual property and corporate secrets.

(Reporting by Diane Bartz, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

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