The White House Hires a New Federal CISO

Source: https://threatpost.com/white-house-hires-first-federal-ciso/120471/, https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/09/08/announcing-first-federal-chief-information-security-officer(ThreatPost, The White House)
In February President Obama announced a Cybersecurity National Action Plan (CNAP). One of the key features of this plan was the creation of the first Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) to drive cybersecurity policy, planning, and implementation across the federal government.

On September 8, 2016, The White House announced that it had hired retired Brigadier General Gregory J. Touhill for the position. Touhill has worked for the Department of Homeland Security for the past two years as the deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications in the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications. According to a blog post by Tony Scott, U.S. Cheif Information Officer, Touhill “will leverage his considerable experience in managing a range of complex and diverse technical solutions at scale with his strong knowledge of both civilian and military best practices, capabilities, and human capital training, development, and retention strategies.”.

The White House has taken steps to improve several initiatives around cybersecurity this year. The National Cybersecurity Plan in February, and in June President Obama signed a Cyber Incident Coordination policy directive that puts procedures in place on how the government will respond to malicious or accidental threats to the nation’s public and private cyber infrastructure.