When you first hear the name Amit Yoran as the person who has just been charged with overseeing cybersecurity - keeping an eye on everything that goes on online - for America's Department of Homeland Security, it sounds odd.

One would not normally expect to hear a foreign-sounding name for such an important national security position.

Yoran has always been a bit of an oddball. While some children have role models like John Wayne or Babe Ruth, Amit's most envied role model was Alex P. Keaton, the character Michael J. Fox played on the NBC TV sitcom Family Ties.

People who know him say he used to wear vests and even ties to school when he was growing up - and he did not attend a private school where uniforms were required. No, this was just the way Amit used to like to dress, even amidst a mix other kids wearing everything from Metallica shirts to the latest Benetton fashions. And he would - like the Keaton character on the show - frequently gush about, "What a stud," Ronald Reagan or Oliver North were.