People
People: Bush names Cairns as DHS "Human Capital" chief
May 12th, 2008
President George Bush announced his intention to appoint Thomas Cairns as the Chief Human Capital Officer for the Department of Homeland Security. Prior to this DHS position, Cairns worked in the private sector, where he has more than 30 years of human resource management experience, mkost recently as a senior vice president with NBC Universal responsible for all human resource and labor relations practices, policies and programs within its Media Works – Media Technology and Operations unit.
People: Buswell named to key S&T Directorate post
May 5th, 2008
Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the appointment of Bradley Buswell to serve as the deputy under secretary for the agency’s Science and Technology Directorate. Prior to joining the department, Buswell served for more than 24 years in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear submarine officer, and also worked as a manager for General Electric Global Research, GE’s corporate laboratory. Buswell most recently served as the S&T chief of staff, and was cited by Chertoff for having overseen its dramatic transformation in strategy and operations during the last 18 months.
People: Shriver boosts California emergency preparedness Web site
April 25th, 2008
California’s First Lady, Maria Shriver, and CaliforniaVolunteers, the lead state office responsible for coordinating volunteer activities, have launched a first-of-its-kind online disaster preparedness effort focused on the greater Los Angeles area, known as WE Prepare. "We cannot afford to wait for the next disaster to hit before we take steps to get ready," Shriver said at a ceremony launching the Web-based program. Since 1950, 255 states of emergency have been proclaimed in California. Since 1989, there have been 27 major declared disasters. Despite this looming threat of unexpected disasters, less than half of Californians have a disaster plan in place. Shriver pointed out that WE Prepare hopes to motivate families to take action and get prepared for both natural and man-made disasters. It is located within the web site of CaliforniaVolunteers: www.californiavolunteers.org.
People: (ISC)2 names Howard Schmidt its Security Strategist
April 14th, 2008
(ISC)2, a non-profit organization that educates and certifies information security professionals, has named Howard Schmidt, a former White House special adviser for cyberspace security, as its new Security Strategist. In that capacity, Schmidt will represent the organization at events and conferences around the world. During a career that has spanned nearly 40 years, Schmidt has also served as chief information security officer for eBay and chief security officer for Microsoft. "Howard Schmidt is one of the most respected information security professionals in the world today," said Patricia Myers, chairperson of the (ISC)2 board of directors.
People: Elaine Duke tapped as DHS management honcho
April 9th, 2008
Elaine Duke has been nominated to serve as the Department of Homeland Security’s under secretary for management. If confirmed, she will be responsible for managing the department’s budget, appropriations, expenditure of funds, procurement, human resources, information technology systems, and facilities and property management. Duke began her service with DHS in 2002 as the deputy assistant administrator for acquisitions at the Transportation Security Administration. She later served as the department’s deputy chief procurement officer from October 2004 to January 2006, when she assumed duties as the chief procurement officer.
People: Raytheon names Bereznay to head of intelligence and information systems
April 1st, 2008
Raytheon announced the appointment of Timothy Bereznay, a 30-year FBI veteran, to lead its FBI strategy within the company’s Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS) division. Bereznay's most recent assignment was assistant director for the FBI's Counterintelligence Division. Prior to this post, he held a variety of positions of increasing responsibility with the FBI. Most notably he worked on the espionage investigation of Robert Hanssen, who sold American secrets to the Soviet Union and Russian governments.
Security exec salaries capped at $612,196 for government contracts
March 26th, 2008
Executives can earn more than $612,196 per year working for security or defense contractors, but that’s the maximum "allowable" compensation for any individual exec that the Office of Management and Budget will permit a federal contractor to include in its cost-plus government contracts.
People: Homeland Security Business Council names Pearl to top posts
March 24th, 2008
The Homeland Security & Defense Business Council, headquartered in Washington, DC, has announced the appointment of Marc Pearl as its new president and CEO. The Council is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the importance of the private sector in achieving the vision and mission for homeland security. Pearl is the former principal and chairman of IT Policy Solutions, a public policy consulting firm which he founded in 2003, and more recently served as executive director of the Consumer Electronics Retailers Coalition.
