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Illinois CISO Steps Down as New Governor Begins Term

Chris Hill worked in Illinois' Department of Innovation and Technology as a cybersecurity leader for nearly two years, but his state service was much longer than that. Now he's headed to the private sector.

Chris Hill has left his post as chief information security officer for the state of Illinois and taken a job with the private-sector IT consultancy Levi, Ray and Shoup.

Hill’s last day with the state was Jan. 25, according to a spokesperson for the Department of Innovation and Technology (DoIT).

His departure caps off a career of more than 15 years working for the state, where he held IT positions at the Department of Natural Resources, Department of Transportation, the Office of the State Fire Marshal and DoIT, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Chris Hill, former chief information security officer of the state of Illinois
Hill became deputy CISO in May 2017 before his promotion to CISO in March 2018.

He worked under CIO Kirk Lonbom, who left the state after Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner lost his re-election bid to Democrat J.B. Pritzker.

He was deputy CISO when the state set up its new Security Operations Center, which beefed up real-time monitoring and response to cybersecurity threats to Illinois. The SOC was a finalist for the National Association of State CIOs’ annual IT awards in 2018, and was part of the reason for Illinois’ B+ grade in the Center for Digital Government’s* 2018 Digital States awards.

As CISO, Hill also led phishing tests and training to help the state avoid infiltration through its email system.

At Levi, Ray and Shoup — a large, diversified firm with offices across the world — Hill has listed his new position as “security practice leader.” Aside from IT consulting, the company runs government pension systems, builds websites, runs network support, provides training and more. Its corporate headquarters are in Illinois’ capital, Springfield.

Neither Hill nor LRS responded to requests for comment.

*The Center for Digital Government is part of e.Republic, Government Technology's parent company.

Ben Miller is the associate editor of data and business for Government Technology. His reporting experience includes breaking news, business, community features and technical subjects. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in journalism from the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada, Reno, and lives in Sacramento, Calif.