DHS cybersecurity chief resignsDHS cybersecurity chief resigns
Just days after the White House unveiled its comprehensive plan for securing government networks from cyber attacks, one of the government’s top cyber security officials announced that he was resigning; Phil Reitinger, the deputy undersecretary of DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), was careful to note that the timing of his resignation was not meant as a reflection or a statement on the recently released government-wide cyber plan; at NPPD, Reitinger was DHS’s senior interagency policymaker and top cyber and computer crimes official.
Just days after the White House unveiled its comprehensive plan for securing government networks from cyber attacks, one of the government’s top cyber security officials announced that he was resigning.
In an email to DHS employees, Phil Reitinger, the deputy undersecretary of DHS’s National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), wrote, “I have decided that the time has come for me to move on from the Department.”
At NPPD, Reitinger was DHS’s senior interagency policymaker and top cyber and computer crimes official.
Reitinger was careful to note that the timing of his resignation was not meant as a reflection or a statement on the recently released government-wide cyber plan.
“I am fully supportive of the direction the administration is going. Because there has been a recent spate of announcements, because I think we’ve made a lot of progress, because I think we’ve built a good team, now is the time for me to leave some of the execution and further development to the team,” he said in an interview with the National Journal.
Reitinger will depart the agency on 3 June, and has not revealed what his next moves are. He has said that for the time being he plans to spend more time with his family and his young children.
He urged his fellow DHS employees to continue their mission in helping to keep government networks secure.
“With significant progress having been made in activities across NPPD, with growing recognition of DHS’s roles and authorities, and the cybersecurity legislative proposal now delivered to the Hill, it’s a logical point for me to leave the Department of Homeland Security and allow the team that we have developed together to carry our initiatives forward,” he wrote.
At DHS it was his chief responsibility to liaise with other federal agencies like the Department of Defense to protect critical cyber infrastructure. In addition his department spearheaded efforts and coordinated procedures to secure networks across all federal agencies.
Greg Schaffer, the Assistant Secretary of the DHS Office of Cybersecurity and Communications, has been appointed as the acting deputy undersecretary in the interim.
