The Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) is still looking for a permanent lead for its Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program, but Richard Grabowski, the program’s deputy lead, has been elevated to acting program manager in the meantime, CISA told MeriTalk.
Grabowski has been with the CDM program since 2014, where he started the program’s Architecture and Technology Integration division. Before that, Graboswki spent nine years providing client/server and virtual integration services to the Federal government.
“Richard has been an integral member of the CDM leadership team for several years, and we have the utmost confidence in his ability to capably guide one of CISA’s flagship cyber programs,” Eric Goldstein, CISA Executive Assistant Director of Cybersecurity, said in a statement to MeriTalk.
Grabowski is taking over for Kevin Cox, who led the program for over five years. Cox began a transition to the Department of Justice (DoJ) earlier this year, and now serves as the agency’s deputy CIO.
At a MeriTalk event in June, while still serving as acting deputy program lead, Grabowski said the CDM program is in for a busy year amid the rising pace of high-profile cyberattacks. Grabowski said he was encouraged by the attention the CDM program is getting.
“It’s very encouraging to see that kind of support from CISA and Congress,” he said during MeriTalk’s “CDM: More Critical Than Ever” webinar. “I think it’s more critical than ever for us to execute.”
