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Minnesota Taps Acting Cybersecurity Chief to Serve Permanently

Rohit Tandon, who took over acting chief information security officer duties with the departure of Aaron Call in December 2019, has been tapped to lead state cybersecurity operations in a permanent capacity.

Minnesota State Capitol
Minnesota State Capitol
Shutterstock/Henryk Sadura
The state of Minnesota has tapped Rohit Tandon to serve as its new chief information security officer.

He permanently replaces former CISO Aaron Call, who left Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) service in December 2019 for a position in the private sector. Tandon had been serving in an acting CISO capacity since Call’s departure.

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In addition to cybersecurity duties, Tandon will also serve as an assistant commissioner for the agency, the state said in a press release.

Prior to his work with the state, he served as the Information Security Leader at Strategic Education Inc., and holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Winona State University and an MBA from University of Minnesota.

In the same release, the state announced the appointment of Zarina Baber as the assistant commissioner for project portfolio management within MNIT. Baber’s experience spans 25 years in both the public and private sectors. 

“Zarina and Rohit’s appointments demonstrate MNIT’s commitment to secure, innovative and reliable technology that equitably serves all Minnesotans. With both Zarina and Rohit on board, we have an opportunity to share in their skills to transform the way we deliver services to our agency partners. We are ensuring a security-focused mindset from inception to rollout, and designing solutions hand in hand with our partners while keeping users — the people of Minnesota — at the center of our work," Commissioner Tarek Tomes said.

Skip Descant writes about smart cities, the Internet of Things, transportation and other areas. He spent more than 12 years reporting for daily newspapers in Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana and California. He lives in downtown Yreka, Calif.