Kirk Lonbom Leads Illinois Cyber Efforts After Three-Year Dark Period

The state of Illinois left its chief information security officer (CISO) position open or occupied part-time for three years before hiring Kirk Lonbom this past August. In an article published by Illinois Chief Information Officer Hardik Bhatt, the state's patience paid off as the CISO leads a statewide transformation cyberstrategy.

Before joining as CISO, Lonbom served for more than five years as CIO and chief of technology for the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, and served for seven years before that as the deputy chief information officer for the Illinois State Police.

Lonbom began his career as a police officer, honing a specialization in criminal intelligence, specifically around organized crime and terrorism.

Lonbom now oversees the "strategic planning, execution, and assessment of all statewide information and cyber security strategies, policies, procedures and guiding practices to be implemented by all Executive Branch State agencies," according to the state.