back to article United States names its first Chief Information Security Officer

US president Barack Obama has named the nation's first ever Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). Brigadier General (retired) Gregory J. Touhill has accepted the gig. He previously served as deputy assistant secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications in the Office of Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department …

  1. Andrew Jones 2

    With all the Star Trek esqueness going around today - I can't help but hear "Worf" when I read Chief (information) Security Officer....

    1. Oengus

      I can't help but hear "Worf" I think of Tasha Yar...

      1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

        Nah, Worf was cuter.

        1. Trevor_Pott Gold badge

          Heathen!

  2. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

    Information wants to be Free, so that Intelligence grows and creates New Orderly World Orders?

    Along the way he opined that cybergeddon scenarios might be a bit overblown

    Does Brigadier General (retired) Gregory J. Touhill, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the United States still consider cybergeddon scenarios a bit overblown, or an all too real Persistent Advanced Cyber Threat and Novel Treat to be opposed or welcomed.

    Does Uncle Sam, wherever and whoever that be lurking, presume to be in unilateral universal command and control of information and intelligence sharing and its mentoring and monitoring, or is such recognised as Fascist Big Brotherian if riddled with secrets known only to a chosen few ?

    1. allthecoolshortnamesweretaken

      Re: Information wants to be Free, so that Intelligence grows and creates New Orderly World Orders?

      "Does Uncle Sam [...] presume to be in unilateral universal command and control of information and intelligence sharing and its mentoring and monitoring [...] ?"

      Yes.

      Next question.

      1. amanfromMars 1 Silver badge

        Next Questions ...

        Howdy, alltheshortcoolnamesweretaken,

        Does that answer prove objectively a subject delusional, and catastrophically vulnerable to abuse and exploitation?

  3. This post has been deleted by its author

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Is this guy also going to put NSA snooping on citizens back in the box?

    1. Terry Cloth

      Or at least stop us hoarding zero-days?

      That would be the first big step to securing our nation's software. The questions are a) what are this guy's views on fixing all discovered bugs, even if discovered by a TLA, and b) does he come equipped with enough clout to convince the powers that be that this is a Good Thing?

      I'm not holding my breath.

  5. Eddy Ito
    Meh

    Seems like a position designed to hold the sacrificial goat / whipping boy for when things go sideways.

  6. bombastic bob Silver badge
    Devil

    Is Obaka going after wikileaks?

    I have to wonder if the new cyber security guy's position is to somehow deal with things LIKE the upcoming wikileaks "reveal" on Mrs. Clinton? Couple THAT with the last big info-dump/reveal of DNC e-mails (showing them acting like everyone they allegedly HATE, from racial slurs and sexist comments, to deliberately messing with the primary election process to coronate Mrs. Clinton).

    And the OBAKA administration is, perhaps, IN A STATE OF PANIC?

    well, I can help them out: Stop using Micro-shaft servers and Outlook for e-mail, enforce the law with respect to keeping classified info off of the intarwebs and private e-mail accounts, and PUNISH those who've been negligent and possibly got people killed... [no need to name names on THAT part]

    1. Tom -1

      Re: Is Obaka going after wikileaks? @bombastic bob

      > and PUNISH those who've been negligent and possibly got people killed... [no need to name names on THAT part]

      Well, I suspect there probably is a need to name names because your bias is so damned obvious: If we are restricting ourseleve to dates after 1945 the first name on the list of thise who were negilgent and got people killed should probably be Lyndon B Johnson and the second George W Bush.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A whole lot of nothing

    Is it just me, or isn't this at least the 2nd military guy who has been identified as head of US "cyber defense"? Is it really that significant that his paycheck comes from someplace other than the Pentagon? Fact is no one in the US government is doing much on computer security defense. All the money and therefore the effort has been focused on offense, much of the time indiscriminantly against the mass of US citizens and the citizens of US allies. Let's be real. What the NSA and other three-letter agencies have been up to isn't good for much but economic espionage to fatten the stock portfolios of lawmakers and to prepare to suppress dissent when the public finally reacts to the oligarch's looting of the economy (which has been a long time coming but may only be one more financial meltdown away now).

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      Re: A whole lot of nothing

      Dead right on all the highlights. Me? I'm getting some of the old Jiffy-Pop popcorn you can do over a fire cause where we're (the US) going, there ain't no electricity that I can see for the microwave shit.

  8. Kev99 Silver badge

    The simple solution is to get ALL government communications off the internet and go back to the dedicated lines that were used for decades.Remember, a net is just a bunch of holes held together by a little string and a cloud is a holes held together by vapor.

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