CISA Director Jen Easterly to depart on Inauguration Day NextgovFCW
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Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Jen Easterly speaks during Kyiv International Cyber Resilience Forum 2024 on February 7 2024 Easterly will depart as head of the agency on Inauguration Day
hurricanehankGlobal Images Ukraine via Getty Images
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Alexandra Kelley and David DiMolfetta
ppJen Easterly the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agencys stalwart champion and a figurehead among cybersecurity and intelligence community practitioners will leave her post Jan 20 next year when Presidentelect Donald Trump is inaugurated back into the White House people familiar with her plans saidppThe plans were communicated via internal emails and an allhands staff meeting said the people who asked not to be identified to share news of her departure Deputy Director Nitin Natarajan also plans to depart at that time one of the people saidppEasterly graduated from West Point in 1990 and later earned a masters degree from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar She then embarked on a 20year career in the US Army She played a pivotal role as one of the top four officials that helped establish US Cyber Command the combatant command born out of a 2008 Defense Department malware infestation that originated on a USB drive resulting in a 14month cleanup operation dubbed Buckshot YankeeppAfter retiring as a lieutenant colonel Easterly continued her government service as deputy director of the NSA for counterterrorism and then as a senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council under President Obama She later transitioned to the private sector where she served as Morgan Stanleys global head of cybersecurityppShe was confirmed as CISAs director after an eightmonth void that had followed Trump firing Chris Krebs the agencys first director when Krebs declared that the 2020 presidential election was fair and secureppA CISA spokesperson told NextgovFCW that all appointees under the current administration vacate their positions when a new administration takes office and affirmed the agencys commitment to a seamless transitionppThroughout her time Easterly championed CISAs Secure by Design initiatives that focused on compelling privatesector manufacturers to bake default security standards into their products and offerings at pointofsale as part of a broader government effort to push software makers to take their products security more seriouslyppShe headed the agency amid a slew of major cyberattacks targeting the US government including one involving Chinese hackers that accessed the email inboxes of major US officials that later got the attention of a DHSbacked cybersecurity review board During national election cycles she served as a steadying voice affirming specifically in this years presidential election that there was no evidence of any malicious activity that had a material impact on the security or integrity of our election infrastructureppUnder her direction CISA also released guidance on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum information sciences aiming to help entities transition their cryptography systems to a quantumresilient standard prior to the creation of a faulttolerant quantum computerppIts common for top officials to depart their posts upon a presidential transition though some tech and cyber officials in the Biden administration already left both before and after the election transpiredppThe future of CISA in an incoming Trump administration remains uncertain as GOP allegations of censorship stemming from CISAs interactions with social media companies claims that Easterly has adamantly refuted played a prominent role in a recent Supreme Court case which the Biden administration ultimately wonppSen Rand Paul RKy a staunch CISA critic who has backed these censorship allegations is also next in line to helm the top position on the Senates Homeland Security panel Paul last year blocked efforts to renew CISAs chemical security screenings after they lapsed in July 2023 ppMoreover Trumps proposed agency budget cuts have ignited worries over whether government networks will receive adequate cybersecurity funding NextgovFCW previously reportedppOhio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is being considered to lead the agency after Easterly leaves Politico reported last week citing four people who have spoken to those in his orbit
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Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Jen Easterly speaks during Kyiv International Cyber Resilience Forum 2024 on February 7 2024 Easterly will depart as head of the agency on Inauguration Day
hurricanehankGlobal Images Ukraine via Getty Images
ppppStay Connectedpp
By
Alexandra Kelley and David DiMolfetta
ppJen Easterly the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agencys stalwart champion and a figurehead among cybersecurity and intelligence community practitioners will leave her post Jan 20 next year when Presidentelect Donald Trump is inaugurated back into the White House people familiar with her plans saidppThe plans were communicated via internal emails and an allhands staff meeting said the people who asked not to be identified to share news of her departure Deputy Director Nitin Natarajan also plans to depart at that time one of the people saidppEasterly graduated from West Point in 1990 and later earned a masters degree from Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar She then embarked on a 20year career in the US Army She played a pivotal role as one of the top four officials that helped establish US Cyber Command the combatant command born out of a 2008 Defense Department malware infestation that originated on a USB drive resulting in a 14month cleanup operation dubbed Buckshot YankeeppAfter retiring as a lieutenant colonel Easterly continued her government service as deputy director of the NSA for counterterrorism and then as a senior director for counterterrorism on the National Security Council under President Obama She later transitioned to the private sector where she served as Morgan Stanleys global head of cybersecurityppShe was confirmed as CISAs director after an eightmonth void that had followed Trump firing Chris Krebs the agencys first director when Krebs declared that the 2020 presidential election was fair and secureppA CISA spokesperson told NextgovFCW that all appointees under the current administration vacate their positions when a new administration takes office and affirmed the agencys commitment to a seamless transitionppThroughout her time Easterly championed CISAs Secure by Design initiatives that focused on compelling privatesector manufacturers to bake default security standards into their products and offerings at pointofsale as part of a broader government effort to push software makers to take their products security more seriouslyppShe headed the agency amid a slew of major cyberattacks targeting the US government including one involving Chinese hackers that accessed the email inboxes of major US officials that later got the attention of a DHSbacked cybersecurity review board During national election cycles she served as a steadying voice affirming specifically in this years presidential election that there was no evidence of any malicious activity that had a material impact on the security or integrity of our election infrastructureppUnder her direction CISA also released guidance on emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum information sciences aiming to help entities transition their cryptography systems to a quantumresilient standard prior to the creation of a faulttolerant quantum computerppIts common for top officials to depart their posts upon a presidential transition though some tech and cyber officials in the Biden administration already left both before and after the election transpiredppThe future of CISA in an incoming Trump administration remains uncertain as GOP allegations of censorship stemming from CISAs interactions with social media companies claims that Easterly has adamantly refuted played a prominent role in a recent Supreme Court case which the Biden administration ultimately wonppSen Rand Paul RKy a staunch CISA critic who has backed these censorship allegations is also next in line to helm the top position on the Senates Homeland Security panel Paul last year blocked efforts to renew CISAs chemical security screenings after they lapsed in July 2023 ppMoreover Trumps proposed agency budget cuts have ignited worries over whether government networks will receive adequate cybersecurity funding NextgovFCW previously reportedppOhio Secretary of State Frank LaRose is being considered to lead the agency after Easterly leaves Politico reported last week citing four people who have spoken to those in his orbit
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Major federal IT contracts to remove unnecessary degree requirements
ppHelp us tailor content specifically for youp
