Senior CISA Advisers Announce Exits Amid Federal Downsizing

Another wave of cybersecurity and national security experts is leaving the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency as mass layoffs and federal downsizing efforts fuel turmoil and uncertainty.

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Several senior advisers who helped launch the agency’s “Secure by Design” initiative – a public-private effort to embed stronger security directly into product design and shift responsibility from users to developers – are among the latest to depart. Bob Lord, a senior technical advisor who announced his departure Monday on LinkedIn, called it a “difficult decision” and pledged to “continue contributing to the ‘Secure by Design’ movement.”

Lauren Zabierek, another senior advisor who announced her departure on LinkedIn, called resigning “one of the toughest decisions” of her career and highlighted her role in the “Secure by Design” initiative, which she said “started as a government-led call to action” and “has quickly become a global movement.” The wave of exits comes as cybersecurity and national security experts warn the nation’s cyber defense agency may soon struggle to sustain initiatives like the “Secure by Design” pledge and other efforts credited with strengthening U.S. cyber defenses in recent years (see: CISA Braces for Major Workforce Cuts Amid Security Fears).

Despite the departures, CISA “remains laser-focused on working across the public and private sectors to improve the nation’s cybersecurity,” said Bridget Bean, a senior agency official currently performing director duties while President Donald Trump’s nominee, Sean Plankey, awaits Senate confirmation. In a statement to Information Security Media Group, Bean called the “Secure by Design” effort a “critical element” of strengthening national cybersecurity, adding that “ensuring that technology companies do their part” is key.

“While CISA’s approaches to ‘Secure by Design’ evolve, our commitment to the principles remain steadfast,” she said, thanking Lord and Zabierek for “helping to lay the foundation on which future work in this space can be built.”

The Department of Homeland Security’s personnel office did not respond to requests for comment on how many CISA employees have accepted the agency’s deferred resignation or other voluntary departure options. Multiple current and former CISA officials told ISMG that unconfirmed reports of White House and agency leadership plans to cut a third of the workforce have fueled widespread uncertainty – and sparked open discussions about private-sector job moves.

An official familiar with the reduction plans previously told ISMG the cuts could leave some CISA divisions severely understaffed, limiting their ability to deliver critical mission support as foreign cyber threats grow. Experts warn that Trump’s recent firing of the leaders of the National Security Agency and U.S. Cyber Command following a White House meeting with conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer has created a potential leadership vacuum at a time when federal networks face heightened risk amid mounting instability and diminished oversight (see: Trump Fires NSA, Cyber Command Chief, Fueling Security Fears).

It remains unclear how many employees have left CISA, which had 3,400 staffers before Trump took office, as the administration pushes to shrink the federal workforce. A former senior cybersecurity defense official previously warned that the loss of key cyber leaders – including former NSA Chief Gen. Timothy Haugh – could also jeopardize U.S. military cyber readiness at a critical moment.