Breach, Threat Intelligence, Data Security

Former OMB official named as OPM interim CIO

The Office of Personnel Management has named an Office of Management and Budget tech official as the OPM's interim CIO. The appointment of Lisa Schlosser, previously deputy federal chief information officer at OMB, comes a month after the OPM's previous CIO resigned in the wake of the personnel department's breach last July.

Donna Seymour, the OPM's previous CIO, stepped down last month resigned under pressure from legislators, just days before she was scheduled to testify before a House panel investigating the breach.

During testimony at a House subcommittee hearing on Monday, OPM interim director Beth Cobert said the department's former associate chief information officer Dave Vargas has been serving as CIO. An OPM representative confirmed to SCMagazine.com that Vargas has been serving as the agency's CIO since Seymour stepped down last month.

The OPM is preparing for a transition to a new IT structure in which government employee background checks will be managed by the National Background Investigations Bureau, a new agency announced by the White House in January. “As we work to navigate the NBIB transition, build on our cyber security effort, and find the permanent CIO, Lisa will be a major asset for OPM during her detail with our team,” wrote Cobert, in an internal email obtained by SCMagazine.com.

Schlosser recently retired from the US Army Reserves, where she served for 29 years on active duty and in the reserves, including as a United States Army Officer.

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