Chertoff security firm hires Hayden, three others

Retired Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, formerly director of the Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency, is joining the security advisory firm The Chertoff Group as a principal, the firm announced today.

The Chertoff Group, a Washington, D.C., security and risk management advisory firm serving corporate and government clients, was founded last month by former Homeland Security secretary Michael Chertoff. The firm advises clients on all facets of security with a focus on prevention, preparedness, response and recovery.

The company also announced that former Homeland Security Deputy Secretary Paul Schneider and former Homeland Security undersecretaries Charles Allen and retired Adm. Jay Cohen are also joining as principals.

“The steady stream of news around topics such as suicide bombings, computer viruses, sea piracy and cross-border violence demonstrates that security challenges continue to multiply at an unforgiving rate,” Chertoff said in a statement.

Hayden served as director of Central Intelligence from 2006 to 2009. Before that, he was NSA director from 1999 to 2005, the longest serving director in the agency’s history. Before becoming CIA director, Hayden was principal deputy director of National Intelligence, the first person to serve in that position.

Paul Schneider served as DHS deputy secretary from 2007 to 2009, following decades of defense and homeland security experience.

A veteran senior CIA officer, Allen has served as a presidential appointee from 2005 to 2009 as DHS undersecretary for intelligence and analysis, reporting directly to Chertoff. In this capacity, he defined and established the department’s intelligence architecture and integrated its intelligence activities.

Cohen was DHS undersecretary for Science and Technology from 2006 to 2009. Before that, he was chief of Naval Research. He also served as the Navy’s chief technology officer.