Top officials of the US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have left the agency or will leave this month, according to several media outlets. The Washington Post, as well as Cybersecurity Dive, obtained an email sent by the agency’s new deputy director, Madhu Gottumukkala, in which employees were informed that five of CISA’s six operational divisions and six of its 10 regional offices will have lost top leaders by the end of May.
Several administrative heads are also leaving, David DiMolfetta with Nextgov/FCW wrote. “The staff losses will leave nearly all of the agency’s operational divisions and at least half its regional bureaus without a permanent leader. The workforce changes come as former officials say that the last thing needed in the current cyber threat environment is a significant downsizing at the government’s core cybersecurity agency.”
“CISA is doubling down and fulfilling its statutory mission to secure the nation’s critical infrastructure and strengthen our collective cyber defense,” CISA Executive Director Bridget Bean said in a statement. “We were created to be the cybersecurity agency for the nation, and we have the right team in place to fulfill that mission and ensure that we are prepared for a range of cyber threats from our adversaries.”
Under Homeland Security Secretary Kristi L. Noem, 130 probationary CISA employees have been dismissed, Joseph Menn reported for the Washington Post on May 23. “Many of the agency’s numerous contractors have seen their contracts canceled.”
