Stempfley leaving DHS
The deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications will join the Mitre Corp. in February.
One of the Department of Homeland Security's top cyber defenders, Roberta "Bobbie" Stempfley, is set to leave for the private sector, an agency spokesman confirmed to FCW.
Stempfley is deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications at DHS's National Protection and Programs Directorate. She has been with the department for five years, beginning in 2010 as director of the National Cyber Security Division, and served in multiple capacities, including acting assistant secretary of CS&C from January 2013 to April 2014. Stempfley won a 2013 Federal 100 award for her work on cybersecurity and critical infrastructure.
Stempfley was also previously CIO for the Defense Information Systems Agency.
Federal News Radio first reported Stempfley's departure for Mitre Corp. Mitre officials confirmed to FCW that Stempfley is coming aboad in February as as director of cyber strategy implementation.
Most recently at DHS, Stempfley has been helping to lead efforts to stem the massive Heartbleed flaw and other potentially serious malware that could spread within federal agencies. In October, DHS announced a newly enhanced authority to scan agency networks for serious computer viruses, a change that could significantly reduce the time it takes the government to nip the next Heartbleed in the bud.
Stempfley said the new authority looked to more widely scan federal agency vulnerabilities so potential flaws could be fixed more quickly. Before the OMB guidance, DHS needed permission from a federal agency before it could scan that agency's networks.
A DHS spokesman told FCW in an email that Rick Harris will serve as acting deputy director of the CS&C's Stakeholder Engagement and Cyber Infrastructure Resilience Division, stepping in to take on Stempfley's duties.