Tim Roemer

In just one month last fall, the Arizona Department of Homeland Security (AZDOHS) detected 68 million cyber threats and shielded state websites from more than 800,000 attacks.

Those numbers illustrate why cybersecurity is one of the most critical issues facing Arizona and why Tim Roemer and the state launched the Cyber Command Center in early 2020. Since then, Roemer, director of AZDOHS in charge of cybersecurity at the time, has been at the center of the effort to combat the growing cyber threat. Last spring he was selected to head up the department’s efforts to thwart attacks.

In being tapped to lead AZDOHS, Roemer was the first state chief information security officer to retain cyber duties while directing homeland security. The selection of Roemer to lead the cybersecurity efforts and the command center demonstrate the state’s mettle in this battle.

“We can throw tens of millions and even hundreds of millions of dollars at advanced cyber protection technology and it won’t make a difference without coalition and partnerships between business leaders in the private sector and government,” Roemer recently told the state’s chamber of commerce.

He added that annual cybersecurity training is crucial to success, including internal simulated phishing attempts and various efforts at penetration testing to determine weak points in a business’s digital security perimeter.

Roemer had previously served as deputy director for AZDOHS and as Gov. Doug Ducey’s public safety adviser and, later, deputy director of legislative affairs. He also spent 10 years in the CIA. In his last two years at the CIA, Roemer was assigned to the White House Situation Room, where he provided national security updates to the president, vice president and National Security Council and briefed U.S. policymakers on national security-related matters.