Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano appointed Mark Weatherford today as the National Protection and Programs Directorate’s (NPPD) new Deputy Under Secretary for Cybersecurity, according to a press release on the DHS’ site.
The role was created by the Directorate in September in order to identify what the DHS refers to as the “growing importance of cybersecurity to DHS and the Nation.”
The change is the latest to come in the wake of former Deputy Under Secretary Phil Reitinger’s exit.
Reitinger, who resigned in mid-May before stepping down at the beginning of June, was named the new CISO of Sony in September. In response, the DHS elected to split Reitinger’s former role in two, with Weatherford’s role dealing with cybersecurity while Suzanne Spaulding, who was named a Deputy Under Secretary on Sept. 22, dealing with critical infrastructure.
Weatherford replaces Greg Schaffer, a former PricewaterhouseCoopers director and Alltel CIO who was named the interim Deputy in June following Reitinger’s departure.
Weatherford steps into the position after having most recently served as the Vice President and Chief Security Officer for the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) where he oversaw the cybersecurity for the nonprofit corporation. Weatherford had previous stints in state government, including a stretch of time as the CSO for the State of Colorado and the CISO for the State of California’s Office of Information Security.
Weatherford will take his post in November, according to the press release.
