CISA executive director set to depart the agency
Brandon Wales (left) is interviewed at the RSA cybersecurity conference in May 2024. Photo courtesy CISA
Brandon Wales, who temporarily led the agency after a Trump-era management shakeup, has overseen many of the recent CISA-led cyber reporting regulations, as well as coordination during major cyber incidents.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency’s executive director Brandon Wales is leaving his post on August 14, and Bridget Bean, the DHS agency’s current assistant director for integrated operations, will take his place, agency director Jen Easterly announced Tuesday.
“It’s been an honor to serve with Brendan Wales over the past three years,” Easterly said, noting that the two have been planning for his departure together. “Brandon has guided CISA through some of the most serious threats facing our nation.”
Wales became CISA’s first executive director — the senior career executive position at the agency — in December 2019, according to his LinkedIn.
He temporarily took charge of the agency after former president Donald Trump fired then agency head Chris Krebs after Krebs refuted unfounded claims over the outcome of the 2020 presidential election. Matthew Travis, CISA’s former deputy director and the person first in line to succeed Krebs, resigned shortly after.
Wales has been applauded for his poise, level-headedness and non-partisanship. He’s been the face of many cybersecurity policies at the agency, such as CISA-led regulations and cross-border coordination during national security incidents.
He also helped CISA expand collaboration with Ukrainian cyber agencies amid Russia’s 2022 invasion of the country. He oversaw communications and coordination during major domestic cyber incidents, including the 2020 SolarWinds cyberattack.
In December 2020, he notably said CISA should take a back seat on curtailing vaccine-related disinformation, which became a flash point in the beginning months of the COVID-19 pandemic as online conspiracists disputed the effectiveness of oncoming vaccines.
Wales has spent most of his 20-year federal career in DHS. He joined in 2005 after working as a national security advisor to then Arizona Senator Jon Kyl. In the department, he oversaw the Homeland Infrastructure Threat and Risk Analysis Center and later became a senior counselor to Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen from August 2017 to January 2019.