McAfee exec becomes DHS cyber lead

Phyllis Schneck is leaving her post as vice president and chief technology officer for McAfee’s global public sector group to join the Homeland Security Department as its cybersecurity leader.

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano announced the appointment of Schneck on Monday via a blog post. Schneck will be deputy undersecretary of cybersecurity. She replaces Mark Weatherford who left in April to join the Chertoff Group.

Phyllis Schneck, shown here in a 2012 C-SPAN appearance, has been named as the Department of Homeland Security's deputy undersecretary of cybersecurity.

Napolitano said the deputy undersecretary of cybersecurity position, created in 2011, is vital to DHS's efforts in protecting the nation's critical infrastructure.
 
"I am confident that Phyllis will continue these efforts, and build upon the foundations laid by her predecessors, to create a safe, secure and resilient cyber environment and promote cybersecurity knowledge and innovation," Napolitano wrote. "Phyllis has been a close partner in our cybersecurity mission for many years."

Schneck is known for her background in high-performance computing and cryptography. At McAfee, Schneck was responsible for public security and global threat intelligence applications, strategic thought leadership centered on technology and policy in cybersecurity, and several other initiatives.

She also serves as chairman of the board of the National Cyber Forensics and Training Alliance, and previously served as chairman of the NIST Information Security and Privacy Advisory Board.