Federal cyber agency gets deputy director after months-long vacancy

by Maggie Miller - 02/16/21 6:08 PM ET

Nitin Natarajan on Tuesday was appointed the deputy director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), building back the agency’s leadership months after its top leaders were forced to step down.

A CISA official confirmed to The Hill that Natarajan would serve as the agency’s deputy director, after Politico first reported the appointment.

Natarajan previously served in positions at the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Health and Human Services, along with serving as the director of critical infrastructure policy on the National Security Council under former President Obama.

Natarajan’s new position at CISA has been vacant since November, when former CISA Deputy Director Matthew Travis was pressured to step down by the Trump administration.

His resignation came the same day former President Trump fired former CISA Director Christopher Krebs due to CISA’s efforts to push back against disinformation and misinformation around the security and validity of the 2020 elections, including through starting up a “rumor control” website.

Other top officials at CISA also stepped down the same week as Krebs and Travis, leaving the nation’s key cybersecurity agency without confirmed leadership for the last months of the Trump administration.

Former CISA Executive Director Brandon Wales has served as the agency’s acting director since November, with the CISA official confirming to The Hill that Wales will remain in this position and Natarajan will not take over as director.

President Biden has not yet formally nominated anyone to serve as CISA’s director, but Reuters reported in January that Biden intends to put forward Rob Silvers, a former Obama administration official, for the position.

The agency recently got a boost with the confirmation of Alejandro Mayorkas as Homeland Security secretary, with oversight of CISA. Mayorkas pledged during his Senate nomination hearing to make cybersecurity one of his “highest priorities” once in office.