Katie Arrington returns to DOD as CISO; IRS is the latest agency to be sued by union groups over DOGE’s access to agency systems

Katie Arrington has been named the deputy chief information officer for cybersecurity and chief information security officer at the Department of Defense, a department spokesperson confirmed. She assumed the role effective Feb. 18. A familiar face, Arrington comes back to the Pentagon where she was the chief information security officer for the department’s acquisition and sustainment organization during the first Trump administration. She was best known for starting the Pentagon’s Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program over six years ago, which aims to improve the cybersecurity posture of the defense industrial base and contractors by requiring minimum cyber standards to bid on contracts.

As the Department of Government Efficiency sets its sights on accessing sensitive taxpayer data, a coalition of union groups and advocates is suing the federal government to block the Elon Musk associates from entering Internal Revenue Service systems. In a lawsuit filed Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the Center for Taxpayer Rights, Main Street Alliance, the National Federation of Federal Employees and the Communications Workers of America allege that DOGE’s access to IRS systems has harmed their constituents’ privacy interests and exposed their private information to heightened risks.

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