https://thenextweb.com/politics/2019/10/25/white-house-cybersecurity-chief-quits-says-leadership-is-inviting-an-attack/
White House computer security Chief Dimitrios Vistakis gave the White House one helluva resignation notice earlier this week when he quit over practices he dubbed “absurd” including the systemic purging of cybersecurity staff.
They say that history repeats itself. Unfortunately given all of the changes I’ve seen in the past three months, I foresee the White House is posturing itself to be electronically compromised once again. Allowing for a large portion of institutional knowledge to concurrently walk right out the front door seems contrary to the best of interests of the mission and organization as a whole.
The above quote, taken from a
memo obtained by Axios and sent by Vistakis summarizes the former director’s worries. The rest of the letter paints the picture of a Trump administration hellbent on purging the Obama-appointed security specialists tasked with defending White House computers in the wake of a 2014 breach. [snip]
Vistakis' greatest complaint seems to be that White House officials are prioritizing the President’s comfort or convenience over actual computer security.
Link to Axios memo - Oct 2019
https://www.axios.com/scoop-cyber-memo-warns-of-new-risks-to-white-house-network-9aa19c6c-77a3-485b-919b-1dd9bd691514.html
A bit further down in the thread:
Exclusive: U.S. official focused on election security will be replaced - Feb 2018
https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1G62NI
The head of a federal commission who has helped U.S. states protect election systems from possible cyber attacks by Russia or others is being replaced at the behest of Republican House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan and the White House.
The wrecking ball has been swinging against US cybersecurity for a while now.
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