The Department of Defense (DoD) has selected Dave McKeown to serve as next chief information security officer (CISO), effective in late Nov. 2020, FedScoop reported Tuesday. He will succeed former CISO Jack Wilmer, who left the role in July 2020 to lead a private security company. Mark Hakun has served as acting CISO since Wilmer’s resignation.
“I am confident Dave has the right skills to serve as the Department’s leader in cybersecurity and look forward to him joining our team,” said DoD chief information officer (CIO) and 2020 Wash100 Award recipient, Dana Deasy.
McKeown’s official title will be deputy CIO for cybersecurity, reporting to Deasy. He will be responsible for DoD’s cyber workforce. McKeown will also collaborate with senior executives and military leaders to secure DoD’s networks.
McKeown most recently served as the director of Enterprise Services with the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ). In the role, he led more than 300 technical personnel and managed a $125 million annual budget. He was also responsible for the acquisition, development, deployment, operations and maintenance of Department IT.
Before his tenure with DoJ, McKeown led enterprise services and cybersecurity for the DoD’s Joint Service Provider, where he led 150 government civilians, 30 military and 800 contractors. McKeown also managed a $300 million annual budget to deliver compute, storage, backup and recovery, messaging, telephony, network transport, and defensive cyber operations services.
“Dave has over 34 years of combined federal service (military and civilian) and is a proven leader in IT strategy; cybersecurity; and the design, planning, and implementation of enterprise IT services,” Deasy added.
