Sean Plankey’s nomination as director of the federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) was referred Tuesday to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Plankey, a military veteran and a Pennsylvanian, served briefly in the first Trump administration as a National Security Council director. His nomination came the same day as roughly 50 presidential nominations, which have been sent to their respective Senate committees.
He brings with him deep technical and leadership experience gleaned from the military and private sector, together with federal cybersecurity expertise. As an example, he is an expert in maritime cybersecurity and was the National Security Council’s director for maritime, Pacific and national defense cyber policies from 2018 to 2019. From 2019 to 2020, Plankey was principal deputy assistant secretary for cybersecurity, energy security and emergency response at the Department of Energy, according to LinkedIn.
His military service spanned 2003 to 2017, first with the U.S. Coast Guard and then the U.S. Navy, leading top-level cybersecurity efforts and serving finally as the U.S. Navy’s deputy CIO for naval intelligence. His cybersecurity experience includes leading a cyber team with the U.S. forces in Afghanistan in 2013. That effort was later recognized by former President Barack Obama.
His resume includes time at tech company WTW, where he led the Indigo Vault document protection platform; as a strategic adviser for consultancy CLASS zero3; as chief architect for critical infrastructure at BedRock Systems; as adviser at Option3; and as public-sector chief technology officer at DataRobot. He was also a global cyber intelligence adviser for bp (British Petroleum).
Plankey’s background aligns with CISA’s core mission of protecting and enhancing critical infrastructure. The agency is a division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and works to understand, manage and reduce national risks to online and physical infrastructure.
Created by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018, it has seen staff reductions and leadership changes since January — many expected with the arrival of a new administration. Former Director Jen Easterly stepped down Jan. 20 after serving under the Biden administration.
Easterly has established the consultancy Evenstar Cyber LLC, according to LinkedIn, and is now listed with the Washington Speakers Bureau, a renowned agency that manages speaking engagements for high-profile political figures, journalists, corporate heads and athletes, among others.
