President Trump intends to appoint Sean Plankey Assistant Director for Infrastructure Security at the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), according to an Oct. 7 release from the White House.
Plankey has been Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) at the Energy Department since November 2019, and before that was Director for Cyber Policy on the White House National Security Council. Plankey, a Coast Guard veteran, also was Deputy CIO for Naval Intelligence, supported U.S. forces in Afghanistan, and logged two years at U.S. Cyber Command.
In a social media posting, Plankey thanked President Trump, and said, “I appreciate the opportunity to move the nation forward in protection of the American people.”
Plankey will succeed Brian Harrell at CISA, who left the agency this summer to take a position in the private sector. During his tenure, Harrell helped the agency to organize critical infrastructure security exercises including the 2020 National Cyber Storm Exercise. Since Harrell’s departure, Deputy Assistant Director Steve Harris has served as acting assistant director.
