The Office of Personnel Management on Wednesday appointed a cyberczar nearly four months after revealing that the personal information of 22.1 million people was stolen by hackers.
OPM Acting Director Beth Cobert appointed Clifton Triplett, a former managing partner at SteelPointe Partners, as a senior cyber and information technology advisor.
“The appointment fulfills an important tenet of the Office of Personnel Management’s Cybersecurity Action Report and will provide the agency with a valuable resource for advancing cybersecurity-related goals in collaboration with a broad spectrum of partners and stakeholders,” OPM stated.
Triplett’s hiring “builds on the growing capacity here at the Office of Personnel Management and underscores our relentless dedication to protecting this agency’s valuable IT systems and information,” Cobert said. “Cliff’s experience in building information technology infrastructure is top-rated, and I am excited to have him on board.”
Triplett will report directly to Cobert and work “alongside” Donna Seymour, the agency’s embattled chief information officer.
Many lawmakers, such as House Oversight and Government Affairs Committee Chairman Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, blamed Seymour and former Director Katherine Archuleta for the massive data breaches that compromised the background and confidential files of even top government employees, such as FBI Director James Comey.
Chaffetz still wants President Obama to fire Seymour.
Triplett “will support the ongoing response to the recent incidents, complete development of OPM’s plan to mitigate future incidents and recommend further improvements to best secure OPM’s IT architecture,” OPM stated.
Triplett will lead efforts to implement 15 steps OPM is taking to update it systems, “including: completing deployment of two-factor strong authentication for all users; expanding continuous monitoring of its systems; and installing additional, advanced security firewalls to improve perimeter and internal security controls,” OPM stated.
Triplett, who is also a veteran, “has significant experience with Fortune 200 companies and industry leaders in the defense, telecommunications, oil field service, tractor, automotive and aerospace industries.”
