Purdy Quits DHS After Unusual Contract Expires

Just as the Department of Homeland Security names insider Greg Garcia to head up the nation’s cybersecurity, Andy Purdy, the department’s acting director of the National Cyber Security Division, is stepping down.

The Associated Press is reporting Purdy worked “under an unusual agreement with a private university that does extensive business with the office he manages.”

AP says Purdy worked at Homeland Security under a two-year contract with Carnegie Mellon University which will expire on October 3. Under the contract, the government paid Purdy $245,481 in salary and benefits each year, not including travel reimbursements; Carnegie Mellon paid him an additional $43,320 a year.

AP says Purdy’s contract drew congressional scrutiny after it reported in June that Purdy’s cybersecurity division has paid Carnegie Mellon $19 million in contracts this year, almost one-fifth the unit's total budget.