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U.S. Senate Creates New Role Dedicated to Handling Cyberthreats

The new "Chief of Information Assurance” will be responsible for proactively identifying, protecting, detecting, reacting and recovering from advanced cyberthreats.

The U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms office opened a new cybersecurity position on Aug. 12, perhaps in response to recent cyberattacks against U.S. political officials. The day after the new job was posted, personal contact information obtained in last month’s the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) data breach was posted publicly online.

The breach spurred harassing phone calls to several of the political leaders affected, including Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who was reportedly forced to change her phone number. It’s the responsibility of the U.S. Senate Sergeant at Arms to prevent such attacks.

The new role, called the “Information Assurance IT Branch Manager” or “Chief of Information Assurance,” will be responsible for proactively identifying, protecting, detecting, reacting and recovering from advanced cyberthreats, according to the official job listing.

Colin wrote for Government Technology and Emergency Management from 2010 through most of 2016.