DHS Appoints Cybersecurity Official with Poor Security Record

A new report says the Department of Homeland Security has appointed an official to a top cybersecurity position even though he has a poor security record and is part of an ongoing security investigation by the FBI into events that occurred under his watch.

In an article on the Wired website, Kim Zetter says 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,” Zetter says.

At the time, Zetter says 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.

In his new position, 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.

“Given his previous failings as chief information officer, I find it unfathomable that you would invest him [Charbo] with this authority,” Representative Bennie Thompson wrote in a letter to DHS secretary Michael Chertoff. “This decision raises concerns about the seriousness of the administration’s initiative.”

To read the full article, click here: http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/02/dhs-appoints-cy.html