Dive Brief:
- Acting federal chief information security officer (CISO) Grant Schneider will become the senior director for cybersecurity policy at the National Security Council (NSC), according to CyberScoop, citing administration officials. He will also retain the role of deputy federal CISO.
- Schneider will be responsible for the national and homeland cybersecurity portfolio at the NSC, according to The Hill. In his role as acting federal CISO, Schneider is also responsible for cybersecurity strategy and policy in the Office of Management and Budget.
- NSC needed to fill a vacancy in its cybersecurity directorate. Schneider became the acting federal CISO in mid-January following Gregory Touhill's departure.
Dive Insight:
This seems like two major roles for one person. The administration official that spoke to CyberScoop said Schneider will maintain the duties of both organizations, but did not elaborate on how Schneider might tackle both tasks.
President Donald Trump has made cybersecurity a bigger issue in recent months. In May, Trump signed an executive order on cybersecurity in an effort to protect federal networks, critical infrastructure and national cybersecurity. It’s therefore surprising that a new permanent CISO has not yet been named, and that Schneider will tackle a second role, which could conceivably pull him away from his main role as acting federal CISO.
Federal government IT security is a persistent sore point. In recent years the federal government has suffered large-scale breaches at the Office of Personnel Management and the IRS, which resulted in huge data losses. While agencies are trying to improve their security posture, cybersecurity leadership is necessary to prevent further shortcomings.
