Veteran federal IT official Karen Evans tapped for top DHS post

Karen Evans, a longtime government IT official who previously held the role that preceded the creation of the federal chief information officer, was nominated this week to serve as undersecretary for management at the Department of Homeland Security.

Evans, whose nomination has been referred to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, joined the Trump administration earlier this year as executive assistant director for cybersecurity at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

Evans’ role at CISA was one of the most prominent cyber jobs in the federal government, leading the agency’s “mission to protect and strengthen federal civilian agencies and the nation’s critical infrastructure against cyber threats,” per an official description of the position.

Before joining CISA, Evans spent the previous three-plus years working as the managing director of the Cyber Readiness Institute, a nonprofit geared toward educating and creating free cyber tools for small- and medium-sized businesses.  

For much of George W. Bush’s administration, Evans served as administrator of the Office of Electronic Government and Information Technology. The office, which set the stage for the Office of Management and Budget’s federal CIO, was charged with implementing IT initiatives across the federal government and leading the CIO Council, among many other responsibilities.

Evans later served as national director of the U.S. Cyber Challenge, assistant secretary for cybersecurity, energy security and emergency response in the Department of Energy, and as CIO of DHS.

DHS recently tapped Antoine McCord, U.S. Marine Corps and Intelligence Community veteran, as its CIO. According to DHS, McCord has more than 18 years of experience in cyber ops and national security, and also spent time in the private sector in cybersecurity and defense technology roles.