Cybersecurity Experts Are Leaving the Federal Government. That’s a Problem

guest · Dec 21, 2019

Cybersecurity Experts Are Leaving the Federal Government. That’s a Problem
The departures leave our critical infrastructure, elections, data and networks vulnerable
December 19, 2019
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/19/opinion/cybersecurity-departures-government.html

The impending departure of Jeanette Manfra, the assistant director for cybersecurity at the department’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, is a major loss for the federal government’s civilian cybersecurity efforts, and it comes at the end of a year that saw a series of departures by key cybersecurity personnel.

In August, the White House chief information security officer, Joe Schatz, left government to join a consulting firm, TechCentrics. A few months later, in October, Dimitrios Vastakis, the branch chief of White House computer network defense, resigned as well [...]
Turnover in the federal government is normal, and cybersecurity professionals, in particular, have plenty of outside career options should they choose to leave.

This means the balance between military and civilian cybersecurity expertise has shifted to emphasize primarily offensive efforts undertaken by the military rather than the civilian tasks [...]
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In May 2018, the White House eliminated the cybersecurity coordinator position on the National Security Council, suggesting that it might no longer be as focused on internet-based threats.

Mr. Vastakis concluded his memo with a grim warning: “I foresee the White House is posturing itself to be electronically compromised once again. Allowing for a large portion of institutional knowledge to concurrently walk right out the front door seems contrary to the best interests of the mission and the organization as a whole.”
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guest · Dec 21, 2019

Jeanette Manfra is heading to Google:
DHS’s Jeanette Manfra to join Google's cloud division
December 11, 2019
https://www.cyberscoop.com/jeanette-manfra-google-cloud-dhs/

One of the U.S. government’s most influential cybersecurity officials is heading to Google.

Jeanette Manfra will take a job at the tech giant’s cloud division in January after leaving her post as assistant director for cybersecurity at the Department of Homeland Security.
Manfra will join multiple other former U.S. cybersecurity officials who are now at Google.
Daniel Prieto, who spent over two years as head of cybersecurity policy at the White House during the Obama administration, is an executive in Google’s cloud division.

At DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, Manfra has been a key liaison with the private sector, laying out the agency’s approach to securing supply chains and industrial control systems.
Manfra’s departure is a significant loss of talent for CISA, whose leadership has moved to name another technology-savvy official as her successor.
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itman · Dec 21, 2019

No big surprise here. At the Executive level, U.S. gov. financial comp. doesn't even come close to what an outfit like Google can provide. Add to that that civil service protection at the exec. level is not as encompassing at that given at lower levels. That said, it's still hard to get rid of these people. Let's say "the Peter principal" is what is employed with a problem exec..

guest · Aug 25, 2020

Brian Harrell, CISA infrastructure security official, steps down
August 25, 2020
https://www.securitymagazine.com/ar...a-infrastructure-security-official-steps-down

Brian Harrell, appointed by the President of the United States in December 2018 to serve as the Department of Homeland Security’s Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection, resigned his post last week and is headed to the private sector.
According to Cyberscoop, Harrell wrote in his resignation letter,

"During my time at [the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency], we have responded to hurricanes and historic floods, provided expertise after mass-shootings, engaged thousands of critical infrastructure owners and operators, and we are now providing the private sector assistance during COVID-19.”
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Harrell served as the first Assistant Director for Infrastructure Security within the newly renamed U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA). He was recognized as Security Magazine's Most Influential People in Security.
He is also the former Director of the Electricity ISAC and Director of Critical Infrastructure Protection Programs at the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) where he was charged with helping protect North America's electric grid from physical and cyber-attack.

Harrell has spearheaded several projects at CISA, such as organizing cybersecurity drills for critical infrastructure companies, including "Cyber Storm" exercise, a national cyber exercise designed to simulate response to a cyber crisis impacting the nation’s critical infrastructure. He also helped run CISA's security team for the last two Super Bowls.
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