The appointment was announced in a blog post on the Department of Homeland Security website. Weatherford’s new position, located within the DHS National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), focuses on large cybersecurity operations and communications resilience.
“The newly created position will allow the Department to better carry out our mission to create a safe, secure and resilient cyberspace” wrote DHS Under Secretary Rand Beers.
Weatherford served as California’s chief information security officer from 2008 to 2010 before leaving to join the North American Electric Reliability Corp. (NERC) as vice president and chief security officer. NERC is an organization of U.S. electrical grid operators that ensures the reliability of the North American bulk power system
Before coming to California, Weatherford spent three years as Colorado’s chief information security officer. He’s also a former naval cryptologic officer, where he led the Navy’s Computer Network Defense operations and the Naval Incident Response Team.
Weatherford, who is a security columnist for Government Technology magazine, will start his new position in mid-November.