Alejandro Mayorkas

Alejandro Mayorkas, deputy secretary for the Homeland Security Department, said he’s spent the last three years building the foundations for key programs within DHS, from the Unity of Effort initiative to its role on cybersecurity and information sharing. Mayorkas will leave the department Oct. 28 to return to the practice of law.

For the third time in three years, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson honored his employees at an awards ceremony in Washington. Johnson and Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas handed out awards to 85 individuals and teams, who represent nearly every component within the department.

Department of Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas announced that he is stepping down effective Oct. 28.

Nearly one year after Congress passed the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act, agencies say they’re still looking for more buy-in from from more private sector companies to share and receive cyber threat indicator information with them. Meanwhile, the Justice Department, FBI and Homeland Security Department are trying to perfect their own information sharing practices as an incentive for companies to partner with them.

The Homeland Security Department is discussing whether it should extend the same cyber defenses it provides to the electric grid or financial sector to the 9,000 state and local systems that collect, tally and report votes during a national election.

The Homeland Security Department drew large crowds to its first-ever tech and cybersecurity job fair in Washington this week. The department interviewed applicants, made tentative offers and started the security clearance review process on the spot for about 150 talented candidates.

The Department of Homeland Security’s deputy secretary said a bill that would help the private sector share information with the government is much-needed. Critics of the bill worry about citizens’ privacy.

Senate Select Intelligence Committee chairs Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) said they expect the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act will reach the Senate floor for debate in about 10 working days. They’re both open to changes to the bill, as long as they don’t alter the basic core of the legislation.

The Homeland Security Department said cultivating and training high-performing leaders and supervisors, and improving communication will help DHS make more significant strides on employee engagement. DHS scored the lowest of all large agencies in the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey.

Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas helped efforts to secure the visas in ways that created the appearance of favoritism and special access, the DHS IG said Tuesday.