Gregory Touhill, deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at the Department of Homeland Security, has been named by the White House as the first federal chief information security officer.
Federal CIO Tony Scott and J. Michael Daniel, special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator, wrote in a blog post published Thursday Touhill will oversee a team within the Office of Management of Budget that is responsible for the development and implementation of cybersecurity policies and practices across the federal government.
He will also lead the team to carry out periodic cyberstat assessments to evaluate whether the implementation plans meet specific goals.
Touhill is a retired U.S. Air Force brigadier general who oversees the development and execution of programs at DHS’ national protections and programs directorate designed to safeguard government networks and critical infrastructures from cyber threats.
The White House also named Grant Schneider, director for cybersecurity policy on the National Security Council staff, as acting deputy CISO.
The appointment of the federal CISO is part of the Cybersecurity National Action Plan that President Barack Obama unveiled in February.
