Cyber changes at DHS, White House

There was an end of the week flurry of activity among cybersecurity executives in the government.

First off, we found out Homeland Security Department’s John Streufert officially is retiring on May 1.

An email from Andy Ozment, assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at DHS, confirmed Streufert’s timing and said that Mark Kneidinger will be appointed acting director of Federal Network Resilience (FNR).

We first reported in February that Streufert decided to retire after more than 25 years in government.

“John has had a truly exemplary career in public service, and the Federal Government owes him a debt of gratitude for his contributions to the development of continuous monitoring and enterprise risk management,” Ozment wrote in an email obtained by Federal News Radio.

Ozment didn’t say where Streufert is heading in the private sector. One source guessed that maybe Streufert would land at the SANS Institute or similar type of organization.

At the same time, Kneidinger will begin a new job April 20 as the deputy director of FNR.

“Mark brings a truly unique set of skills to this position. He has been instrumental to the successful roll-out of CDM and in securing agreements covering 98 percent of the federal civilian government,” Ozment wrote. “I have no doubt that Mark will ably lead FNR in implementing our new FISMA authorities and helping our federal agency customers understand and manage their cybersecurity risk.”

Over at the White House, John Banghart, who holds the job Ozment once did as director of federal cybersecurity for the National Security Council, is leaving government as of May 15.

An email inviting friends and colleagues to his goodbye party obtained by Federal News Radio confirmed Banghart’s move out of the White House.

He joined the government in 2009 as an information security specialist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Banghart has worked for the White House since August 2013, replacing Earl Crane.

The email didn’t mention who would replace Banghart.

Finally, Martha Dorris is changing jobs inside the General Services Administration. Dorris, the director of the Office of Innovative Technologies in GSA’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies, is taking over as the director of the Office of Strategic Programs in the Federal Acquisition Service.

“Martha has provided leadership in policy, acquisition and citizen services at GSA,” said Mary Davie, FAS’ assistant commissioner for Integrated Technology Services (ITS) in an email to staff, which was obtained by Federal News Radio. “She has driven the Office of Citizen Services to deliver products of high value and impact while leveraging the full capabilities of a creative and passionate team. In her role as deputy associate administrator, Martha provided executive leadership to efforts within OCS, including the creation of products and services that enable the federal government to be open, transparent and support the Digital Government Strategy as well as the integrated delivery of information and services to the public through USA.gov. Ms. Dorris is passionate about driving the government to provide an excellent experience to the public. Martha’s experience and leadership will be invaluable to ITS as we transform our organization into a more customer-centric, category management focused organization.”

Dorris replaces Maynard Crum, who has been acting director for much of the last year.

Crum will stay on at GSA leading the customer engagement working group.

“This was the first group we stood up, and as you know, it can be hard to “go first,” Davie wrote. “Many of you are participating on the various organizational structure teams and you know that there is lot of effort involved to help us define that future state (so thank you to all of you too). Maynard is known in ITS for his ‘will get it done’ approach and his focus on our employees.”

And in case you missed it, the Senate finally confirmed Russell Deyo, to be the DHS undersecretary for management. Deyo had been waiting since the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee approved his nomination in November.

“Given the challenges associated with fusing 22 separate agencies into one cohesive department, the Under Secretary for Management at the Department of Homeland Security is an enormously important position,” Sen. Tom Carper said. “Russell Deyo has extensive management experience and will enable the department to continue making progress in challenging areas. Mr. Deyo’s perspective from the private and public sectors will be an important asset to Secretary Johnson as he works to unify the department and continue its critical mission.”

Deyo replaces Raphael Borras, who left in February 2014 to return to the private sector.

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