Another Cyber Guru Leaves

The same week that the acting White House cyber chief stepped down, the Homeland Security Department has lost one of their cybersecurity officials. The Washington Post reported that Mischel Kwon submitted her resignation as the director of DHS' U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or US-CERT, which was established in 2003 to coordinate the government's response to cyberattacks.

According to the report, Kwon's colleagues said she was frustrated by bureaucratic obstacles and a lack of authority to fulfill her mission -- sentiments not unlike those expressed by Rod Beckstrom when he resigned as director of the National Cybersecurity Center in March. Kwon will join RSA's Worldwide Professional Services unit as vice president of public sector security solutions.

A week ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that Melissa Hathaway resigned as senior director for cyberspace for the National Security and Homeland Security councils, removing herself from the running to be the much anticipated White House cyber coordinator.

Do these high-profile departures signal an exodus of federal cybersecurity leaders? Perhaps, if the Obama administration continues to stall on naming an individual to the cyber coordinator role. As one former intelligence official told Nextgov last week, the administration's failure to appoint a White House cybersecurity coordinator "has created a wait-and-see attitude," which leaves anyone in any position of authority ineffective.

No one person can face the massive challenge of cybersecurity alone, and yet that may be exactly what the cyber coordinator must do if lack of direction drives out federal government's already sparse cybersecurity workforce.