The White House has appointed Grant Schneider as the second federal chief information security officer.
Schneider, who was deputy to former federal CISO Gregory Touhill, has been acting CISO since his predecessor’s departure in January 2017.
He is also the National Security Council’s senior director for cybersecurity, and when the cybersecurity coordinator position was scrapped in May he was announced to be taking over the duties of the role, along with fellow NSC director Joshua Steinman.
“Grant Schneider brings extensive cybersecurity experience well aligned to lead efforts in securing government systems from cyberattacks,” said Margaret Weichert, chief management official of the Office of Management and Budget.
In addition to his experience as deputy federal CISO, he has held several IT and cybersecurity roles in government, including having served as chief information officer of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
As federal CISO, he will lead cybersecurity strategy across the executive branch, and act as chair of the CISO Council.
“Grant was my deputy when I served in the position and has a firm grasp on the threats, vulnerabilities and current cyber issues. We need the federal CISO as leadership is needed to implement best practices to protect the people’s information,” said Touhill, who is now President of the Federal Group at Cyxtera Technologies. “I learned in the military, when you don’t have someone ‘calling cadence,’ what you get is a mob.”
