A former Air Force general and Department of Homeland Security official has been appointed as the first federal chief information security officer, the White House announced today. I’m not saying we would drop bombs on hackers but this guy has the know-how and experience so I wouldn’t mess around with him.
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After 21 years in the Air Force, Touhill filled other high ranking government positions doing cybersecurity work and eventually landed at the Department of Homeland Security.
The administration of President Barack Obama has made bolstering federal cyber security a top priority in his past year in office. Russian Federation has dismissed the allegations as absurd. The position was first announced by the Obama administration in February as part of a bn Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP) to improve the “cybersecurity posture within the Federal Government and across the country” through IT investments and cybersecurity talent recruitment.
He is now a deputy assistant secretary for cyber security and communications at the Department of Homeland Security.
The White House TEXT announcement of Touhill’s appointment, penned by US CIO Tony Scott and cybersecurity coordinator J. Michael Daniel has the usual nice things to say about the new hire and say the job’s goal is “to drive cybersecurity policy, planning, and implementation across the Federal Government”. The job is a political appointment, meaning Obama’s successor can choose to replace Touhill after being sworn in next January.
In his role, Touhill will be leading cyber practices across federal agencies, including those that conduct “periodic CyberStat reviews with federal agencies to insure that implementation plans are effective and achieve the desired outcomes”, according to the blog post.
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Grant Schneider, who is the director of cyber security policy at the White House’s National Security Council, will be acting deputy to Touhill, according to the announcement.
