Mark Kneidinger, director of the Department of Homeland Security‘s federal network resilience division, has said he believes a federal chief information security officer will not be able to demonstrate leadership potential without legal authority, Fedscoop reported Thursday.

Billy Mitchell writes Kneidinger told audience during an Independent Telecommunications Pioneer Association-hosted panel discussion Thursday the creation of the federal CISO post can help unify agencies to address the government’s cybersecurity problems.

“A key element to that person is to work at developing legal authorities, be it through Congress or otherwise, that’s going to give [the CISO]… the same seat at the table as the CIO at the agency level,” he added, Fedscoop reports.

The report said the future U.S. CISO will oversee civilian agency policies regarding the security of federal information systems against cyber threats.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology has opened the comment period for its draft publication on cloud computing accessibility as part of an effort to help employees with disabilities utilize the cloud.

NIST said Thursday the “Cloud Computing and Accessibility Considerations” publication looks into the challenges facing those employees as organizations adopt cloud computing platforms.

“[The document] examines the challenges, barriers and opportunities federal information technology managers face to comply with both the federal government’s accessibility requirements—Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act—and the federal Cloud First policy,” said Robert Bohn, NIST’s cloud computing technology program manager.

The draft publication also cites eight “experiences of inaccessibility” with new technology as well as barriers particularly in cloud computing environments.

NIST’s Cloud Computing Accessibility Public Working Group will accept comments on the draft through April 29.

IBM’s Dan Chenok has said the government should work to identify and respond to cyber threats in a way that does not prevent government agencies, commercial firms and citizens from using technology platforms that serve them.

Chenok, executive director of the IBM Center for the Business of Government, wrote in an article published Thursday that improvement of cybersecurity posture is one of four mission areas he identified as key for the government.

He recommended that public agencies adopt tools to protect information technology systems and mobile devices from potential cyber threats, as well as to leverage the use of biometrics for access control measures.

Chenok noted that government should employ cognitive computing tools, analytics and other approaches to improve the delivery of services to citizens.

The government should “involve the public in framing public policy through crowdsourcing, sentiment analysis, and similar innovations,” he added.

Federal digital managers have verified more than 7,300 government accounts on third-party Web, social media and mobile platforms through the General Services Administration‘s U.S. Digital Registry, GSA official Jacob Purcell wrote in a blog article published Monday.

Purcell, manager of mobile programs at GSA, said the repository is designed to help agencies authenticate sources of government information that people can access with their smartphone or tablets.

“The U.S. Digital Registry offers an opportunity for federal agencies to show they are leveraging cutting-edge mobile technologies to engage their audiences anytime, anywhere,” he added.

He noted that mobile registrations in the repository feed an application programming interface for the development of widgets that support digital government accounts.

GSA launched the digital registry last month and has received suggestions and positive feedback from many public and private organizations, according to Purcell.

The Department of Homeland Security has proposed establishing a centralized system for DHS to manage inquiries, complaints and investigations about potential insider threats.

DHS said in a public notice posted Feb. 26 on Regulations.gov it plans to implement an  Insider Threat Program system of records to enable agency personnel to examine unauthorized disclosures of classified national security information and create statistical reports about the incidents.

The system will include records about former or current employees, contractors and other other individuals who have access to the department’s physical facilities and information technology assets, the department noted.

Data from Standard Form 86 security-clearance questionnaires as well as criminal background, medical, financial and travel records will be included in the system.

DHS will accept public feedback on the planned insider threat data management system through March 28 and  plans to release a rulemaking proposal for the exemption of the system from certain Privacy Act provisions.