U.S. CERT boss stepping down

Ann Barron-DiCamillo is stepping down as head of the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, FCW has learned.

Barron-DiCamillo is perhaps the longest tenured of DHS' top cyber officials, having served over three years.

A DHS official confirmed Barron-DiCamillo's impending departure, but did not know precisely when she would leave the agency, or who would replace her at the top of U.S. CERT. Currently, Brad Nix serves as Barron-DiCamillo's deputy.

She has made improving DHS' sharing of cyberthreat information with the private sector a priority as U.S. CERT director. For example, classified DHS reports often contain useful technical data that is itself not classified and should be pushed out to the private sector without compromising classified information, Barron-DiCamillo told FCW in an April 2015 interview.

She also said then that her organization does not carry the same baggage in its private-sector outreach as an agency like the National Security Agency because of U.S. CERT's defensive mission.

"Being just a computer network defender [and having] this very clean mission, I think has really allowed us to create a lot of relationships with industry," Barron-DiCamillo said.

Barron-DiCamillo's nearly 20-year career in government and industry has included stints at the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Department of Commerce, and as an aide in the late 1990s to then-Rep. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), who went on to become a U.S. Senator. In addition to her U.S. CERT role, she is currently an adjunct professor teaching cybersecurity risk management at American University, according to her LinkedIn profile.

Other former top cyber officials to head for the exits recently include Larry Zelvin and Bobbie Stempfley, who have have gone on to jobs at Citi and the not-for-profit Mitre Corp., respectively.