In-brief: President Donald Trump made good on a long-held campaign promise Thursday, signing a tough-talking executive order to strengthen the cyber security of federal networks. But experts worry that the Order comes with too few specifics.
OMB
Top DHS cyber official named first federal chief information security officer – POLITICO
The White House Thursday announced that Greg Touhill, a top cybersecurity official at the Homeland Security Department, will serve as the first federal chief information security officer.”In his new role as Federal CISO, Greg 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,” White House cyber czar Michael Daniel wrote in a blog post about the new appointment, which will be housed in the Office of Management and Budget.”Greg will lead a strong team within OMB who have been at the forefront of driving policy and implementation of leading cyber practices across federal agencies, and is the team that conducts periodic cyberstat reviews with federal agencies to insure that implementation plans are effective and achieve the desired outcomes,” Daniel said. Source: Top […]
Fed CIO’s Security Sprint Ends with Long To-Do List
In-brief: In a 21-page memorandum posted on the White House website, the Obama Administration identified its top cyber security priorities. Among them: identifying high value information and assets on government networks, responding to cyber incidents in a timely manner and finding and keeping qualified information security staff. Its a list that one leading security expert says sounds worryingly familiar to earlier federal nostrums.
Senator Warns of DHS Struggle with Cyber Security
U.S. Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK) used his final days in office to warn that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is struggling to fulfill its mission to protect the nation from cyber attack. The report, “A Review of the Department of Homeland Security’s Missions and Performance,” (PDF) was released on Saturday, as the retiring Senator from Oklahoma was leaving office. In it, the outgoing Senator said that DHS’s strategy and programs “are unlikely to protect us from the adversaries that pose the greatest cybersecurity threat.” The warnings on DHS cyber operations were part of a larger critique of the Department in the report, in which Coburn called on reforms of Homeland Security focused on accountability and streamlining. Despite spending $700 million annually on a range of cybersecurity programs, Coburn said it is hard to know whether the Department’s efforts to assist the private sector in identifying, mitigating or remediating cyber […]
