Kim Zetter
Security

DHS Appoints Cybersecurity Official with Poor Security Record

The Department of Homeland Security has appointed an official to head a top cybersecurity position charged with overseeing a new multi-million-dollar national protection plan despite the official’s poor security record and ongoing investigations by the FBI and the DHS inspector general into events that occurred previously under his watch, according to Government Executive. Scott Charbo […]

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The Department of Homeland Security has appointed an official to head a top cybersecurity position charged with overseeing a new multi-million-dollar national protection plan despite the official's poor security record and ongoing investigations by the FBI and the DHS inspector general into events that occurred previously under his watch, according to Government Executive.

Scott Charbo was formerly the chief information officer for the DHS before his new appointment. Last year the House Homeland Security Committee investigated how he and his staff responded to breaches under his watch and found that he not only failed to properly address threats that occurred but also failed to manage a contractor, Unisys, that is now under investigation for criminal fraud and failure to protect DHS computers from intrusions.

The committee found that Unisys, which had a $1.7 billion contract with DHS to secure and manage the IT network for DHS and the Transportation Security Administration, failed to detect intrusions to the network for three months beginning in June 2006. The intrusions, on 150 computers, were traced to a Chinese-language hacker site. The FBI is currently investigating Unisys, according to a Washington Post story last year.

Charbo will be responsible for securing computer networks for a number of agencies under a plan that could be budgeted with more than $200 million.

Representative Bennie Thompson (D-Mississippi), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee that investigated Charbo's former work, sent a letter to Michael Chertoff, homeland security secretary, protesting Charbo's new appointment.

"Given his previous failings as chief information officer, I find it unfathomable that you would invest him [Charbo] with this authority," he wrote. "This decision raises concerns about the seriousness of the administration's initiative."

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