DOE's New Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER)

Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response website
Source: energy.gov/ceser

On February 14, 2018, U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry established a new office called the Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER) to handle the Department of Energy's (DOE) security and emergency response operations. The office will oversee preparedness planning and emergency response for cyber threats, physical attacks, and natural disasters impacting the energy sector.

DOE was designated the cybersecurity Sector-Specific Agency (SSA) for the energy sector, meaning that it is responsible for overseeing the security and resilience of this designated critical infrastructure. By creating CESER, the Department’s role will be strengthened.

On August 28, 2018, Karen Evans was confirmed by the Senate to lead CESER as Assistant Secretary. Evans previously served as a top IT official, the position now known as the federal CIO, at the Office of Management and Budget under President George W. Bush. She also previously served as DOE's CIO. Most recently, she was the National Director of the U.S. Cyber Challenge, a program dedicated to building the U.S. cybersecurity workforce.

In her new role, she testified before Congress for the hearing “DOE Modernization: The Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response."

Here is DOE's updated organizational chart. Plus some really beautiful photos on Instagram from Energy.gov...

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A post shared by U.S. Department of Energy (@energy) on Sep 26, 2018 at 2:29pm PDT