Chief info security officer to leave DoJ

WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- The chief information security officer of the Justice Department is stepping down and plans to be a consultant to the U.S. director of national intelligence.

Dennis Heretick, whose formal title is deputy chief information officer, told United Press International that his last day at the department would be Friday.

"I plan to become a consultant for the chief information officer at the ODNI," he said, using the four-letter abbreviation for the Office of Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell.

He said he was "very excited" about the work that Chief Information Officer Gen. Dale Meyerrose was doing at ODNI in standardizing certification and accreditation procedures for information security across U.S. military and intelligence agencies.

"Nothing is finalized yet," he said of his new position, which was first reported by Federal Computer Week.

Heretick has been at the Justice Department in his post for four and a half years, and has been in federal service for almost four decades, he told UPI.

He said his key challenge at Justice had been "clearly focusing on IT security priorities that meet our mission needs. ... It is critical that you devote the lion's share of your resources to actually implementing security measures and controls ... rather than just documenting and planning."

In leaving he paid tribute to his staff. "I did not accomplish anything," he said, "they accomplished it all."

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Shaun Waterman, UPI Homeland and National Security Editor