Cybersecurity

CISA executive director to depart after three years

Brandon Wales is the second senior leader to depart CISA in recent months. He led many of CISA's internal and external initiatives over the last three years.

Justin Doubleday@jdoubledayWFED

July 23, 2024 2:57 pm

3 min read

Another top official at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is stepping down.

CISA confirmed that executive director Brandon Wales will leave the agency next month after just over three years in his position.

“Brandon has guided CISA through some of the most serious threats facing our nation. From Sunburst to the ransomware attack on Colonial pipeline to the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the agency and the department have looked to Brandon time and again for his leadership and deep expertise,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement today. “With more than 20 years of federal service, including more than 19 at the department, he was here before we were CISA and expertly helped shape the agency into what we are today.”

Easterly said Bridget Bean will take over as CISA’s executive director in August. Bean is currently the assistant director of integrated operations.

“With more than three decades of federal government service, Bridget brings extraordinary leadership and experience to the role, which will involve a dedicated focus on operationalizing a fully unified and cohesive team,” Easterly said. “We thank Brandon for all he has done for CISA and the nation and thank Bridget for stepping into this critical role.”

During his time as executive director, Wales led CISA’s long-term strategy and agency-wide policy initiatives at a time of rapid growth for the young cybersecurity agency. CISA’s 2023-2025 strategic plan stakes out key roles for CISA in leading federal cyber defenses and critical infrastructure resilience efforts. CISA leaders have also been focused on “agency unification” and workforce engagement.

Wales was also named the lead of the federal government’s domestic preparedness and response in the wake of Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. He frequently led CISA’s engagements with both domestic and international partners, while also helping to oversee key issues like the agency’s development of cyber incident reporting rules.

“No one does this work alone,” Wales said during an October 2023 event hosted by the Washington Post. “Every bit of it requires deep partnerships and real operational collaboration. I think one of the hallmarks of our agency, CISA, is that we really were purpose-built to kind of engage with the private sector, engage with critical international partners, to make sure that we are as ready as possible for our worst day.”

Wales joined the Department of Homeland Security in 2005 and went on to serve in various roles, including as director of the Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk Analysis Center. He also served as senior counselor to the homeland security secretary for cyber and resilience. In 2019, he assumed the role as acting chief of staff at DHS.

In November 2020, Wales stepped in to serve as acting director of CISA after former President Donald Trump fired then-Director Chris Krebs, who was the first head of CISA.

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As the acting director between November 2020 and July 2021, Wales oversaw CISA’s response to the SolarWinds hack, the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack and other high-profile cybersecurity incidents.

Wales is the second senior CISA leader to depart in recent months. Eric Goldstein left his job as executive assistant for cybersecurity in June. Jeff Greene, a former senior director at the Aspen Institute, was recently named as Goldstein’s official replacement.