Biden picks campaign veteran for federal CISO job

NOTE: This story first appeared on FCW.com.

President Joe Biden has tapped Chris DeRusha to be the federal government's chief information security officer.

DeRusha's appointment was not announced by the White House, but his LinkedIn profile indicated he had begun working as the government's CISO. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DeRusha has a long history with both Biden and the Obama administration. Last summer, Biden tapped him to be the campaign's CISO and he has continued to work for the transition team since December.

"Smart move of Biden to hire Chris DeRusha to secure his campaign. Did great work for me at DHS!" Suzanne Spaulding, a former Department of Homeland Security official who led the predecessor to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said of the hire at the time.

DeRusha spent five years at DHS as a cybersecurity expert during the Obama administration and two years at the White House as senior cybersecurity advisor, briefly working for the Trump administration through May 2017.

Prior to joining Biden's campaign, DeRusha was the chief security officer for the state of Michigan and ran an enterprise vulnerability management program for Ford.