The Los Angeles Post

Nielsen’s exit raisers cyber worries

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Kirstjen Nielsen’s departure as head of Homeland Security is creating uncertainty about the agency’s cyber efforts.

As Department of Homeland Security (DHS) chief, Nielsen made cybersecurity a top priority, but some are questioning whether her permanent replacement will do the same.

President Trump tapped Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Kevin McAleenan to serve as acting secretary. And while he has a broad background in border security matters, he is entering the interim role without significant cyber experience.

“DHS is already stretched very thin and putting lots and lots of effort into … the main thing that this administration cares about, which is the immigration mission,” said Chris Painter, who served as cybersecurity coordinator at the State Department during the Obama administration. “And I think, inevitably, that is going to have an effect on the cyber mission.”

Concerns about a potential cyber void have been heightened by Trump signaling he wants a DHS leader who is tough on immigration policy and border issues.

“Given what we know about the kind of person the president wants to lead DHS — essentially someone who is willing to take the most hawkish position on immigration possible — it doesn’t seem likely the new DHS leader will be a cyber-focused person,” Jamil Jaffer, a former senior counsel for Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, told The Hill.

McAleenan will be taking on the position at a time when Trump has amped up his rhetoric about closing the southern border and taking on a more aggressive security stance amid a spike in illegal border crossings over the past few months.

“My concern is that try as he will … Kevin McAleenan will be under tremendous pressure from the White House to focus even more on the southern border and that would be to the detriment of the department’s mission broadly,” said John Cohen, who served as DHS acting under secretary for intelligence and analysis during the Obama administration and is now a professor at Rutgers University.