Head of U.S. computer emergency agency quits

from USAToday

The director of the U.S. Computer Emergency Response Team has resigned, reportedly because she was frustrated by bureaucratic obstacles and not having sufficient power to do the job in the Department of Homeland Security, Defense Tech tells us.

Mischel Kwon, the fourth U.S. CERT director in five years, quit Friday, Government Information Security first reported. A holdover from the Bush administration, she was hired in June 2008. Before that, she was the chief IT security technologist for the Department of Justice.

Today GIS writes that Kwon has been hired by RSA as vice president of public-sector security solutions.

Last week we wrote about the departure of the White House acting cybersecurity czar.

In March, Rod Beckstrom, the director the National Cybersecurity Center, also under Homeland Security, resigned, citing a lack of agency support and what he saw as a power grab by the National Security Agency.

Friday, as Kwon resigned, the director of the National Cyber Security Center at Homeland Security said the Obama administration "has made cybersecurity a top priority."

Kevin Coleman of Technolytics, which describes itself as "an independent executive think tank," writes that the departures are troubling.

"These resignations highlight a much larger problem, it shows the inability of the federal government to hire and retain qualified cyber security leaders. Two months after President Obama pledged to 'personally' select someone to be the White House's cyber security coordinator (AKA Cyber Czar), the position remains unfilled. ...

"Why not takers? What do they know that we don't? The nation's security is actually at risk and not having a cyber czar doesn't help. The continued churn has other concerning implications that point to a much bigger issue."

Here's an interview with Coleman last month.