Gregory Touhill, federal chief information security officer at the Office of Management and Budget, has outlined five cybersecurity areas that he plans to prioritize as the first federal CISO.
Touhill wrote in a blog post published Wednesday that his office plans to build up recruitment practices, employee retention and skills development as well as leverage training and targeted education through the Cybersecurity Workforce Strategy.
He also cited the need to treat data as an asset and implement best practices in an effort to prevent data breaches and other cyber attacks within the federal government.
Touhill said his office will work to invest in efforts to update legacy information technology systems and adopt cloud and mobility platforms in order to reduce network vulnerabilities, as well as leverage metrics to facilitate the decision making process for cyber risk management.
He also mentioned the establishment of the Chief Information Security Officer Council that will work to facilitate collaboration among federal CISOs.
The White House appointed Touhill as the first federal CISO in September as part of the Cybersecurity National Action Plan that President Barack Obama unveiled in February.