Brandon Wales

Brandon Wales is the first Executive Director of CISA and serves as the senior career executive overseeing the execution of the Director and Deputy Director’s vision for CISA operations and mission support.

Recently, President Donald Trump fired Christopher Krebs, who led the federal government’s election cybersecurity efforts amid the false claims of election fraud and hacking.

Since November 3rd, Christopher Krebs has been the target of public criticism from Trump, Krebs told NBCNews that “I’m proud of the work we did at CISA,” and added “I’m proud of the teammates I had at CISA. We did it right.”

Shortly after Trump’s announcement, Krebs tweeted: “Honored to serve. We did it right.”

Honored to serve. We did it right. Defend Today, Secure Tomrorow. #Protect2020

— Chris Krebs (@C_C_Krebs) November 18, 2020

According to NBCNews, Krebs’s deputy, Matthew Travis, resigned soon after. Now, Brandon Wales will be acting head of the agency after the firing of Chris Krebs and the resignation of Travis.

However, Wales is a career official, not a political appointee, which insulates him from being fired by the White House.

Eric Geller who is a Politico cybersecurity reporter Tweeted on November 18th, he wrote “Confirming @snlyngaas’ scoop: CISA Deputy Director Matthew Travis is leaving. The White House pressured him to resign after firing Krebs, others have reported. Brandon Wales, a career employee serving as CISA’s executive director, will be the agency’s acting director now.”

In the follow up Tweet, Eric wrote “Confirming @snlyngaas’ scoop: CISA Deputy Director Matthew Travis is leaving. The White House pressured him to resign after firing Krebs, others have reported.

Brandon Wales, a career employee serving as CISA’s executive director, will be the agency’s acting director now.”

Dustin Volz of The Wall Street Journal tweeted “I’m told Chris Krebs’ deputy, Matt Travis, has also RESIGNED tonight after White House made clear to him he would not be taking the helm of the agency. Brandon Wales, a career official and the third-highest ranking official at CISA, is expected to now serve as acting director.”

I'm told Chris Krebs' deputy, Matt Travis, has also RESIGNED tonight after White House made clear to him he would not be taking the helm of the agency. Brandon Wales, a career official and the third-highest ranking official at CISA, is expected to now serve as acting director.

— Dustin Volz (@dnvolz) November 18, 2020

Know About Brandon Wales

He is the Director of the Office of Cyber and Infrastructure Analysis (OCIA) at the Department of Homeland Security.

Furthermore, Wales’s responsibilities include leading long-term strategy development, ensuring effective operational collaboration across the agency,, and managing CISA-wide policy initiatives.

From 2009-2014, Mr. Wales was the Director of HITRAC and he also oversaw the Department’s advanced modeling, simulation, and analysis program at NISAC.

Then, from August 2017 to December 2019, he served in numerous roles within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary’s office. In January 2019, Wales served as the Senior Counsellor to the Secretary for Cyber and Resilience and was requested to serve as Deputy Chief of Staff (Acting), developing and advancing the Department’s strategic priorities.

Earlier, he served as a national security aide to the United States Senator Jon Kyl and as a Senior Associate at a Washington-based foreign policy and national security think-tank.

Talking about his education, Wales attended George Washington University and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree, then he earned his Master’s degree from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.