Paul Blahusch is retiring as the Labor Department’s chief information security officer (CISO) after a six-year tenure that began in 2018.
In a LinkedIn post, Blahusch said he accepted the agency’s offer of deferred resignation. His last day on the job was April 25, and his retirement will become official at the end of this year.
The long-time agency CISO said, “As I handed in my PIV card at the end of that day, it struck me that for the first time in about 40 years, I had no employee badge; it was simultaneously an oddly freeing and disturbing feeling.”
“Three months ago, I would not have dreamed of posting such a message but, like many others, here I am,” he said.
Before becoming CISO at the Labor Department, Blahusch was cybersecurity director at the agency’s U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics for a 19-year hitch beginning in 1999.
“I will dearly miss the people I worked with at DOL and throughout the government community, and the important mission(s) we supported,” Blahusch said. “I am so grateful to the teams I was fortunate to lead over the years, to guide/support them and watch them grow and succeed. Any achievement attributed to me is truly a reflection of the talented individuals on those teams.”
As for future plans, Blahusch said, “I hope and plan to continue contributing to the cybersecurity community. I have a lot left in the tank.”
Blahusch’s cybersecurity efforts in government were honored last year by MeriTalk as part of our Cyber Defenders awards program that recognizes the top government and private sector practitioners who are spearheading security innovation across the government.
In a follow-up interview with MeriTalk, Blahusch spoke extensively about the security opportunities and challenges surrounding artificial intelligence, zero trust security, the coming quantum computing wave, and the importance of collaboration among Federal security leaders.
Following Blahusch’s departure from the Labor Department, the agency’s top technology ranks appear to be reduced, according to a look at the organizational chart on the Labor Department’s website. The chart shows the chief information officer position as vacant, along with one of the two deputy CIO positions. Rick Kryger remains listed as deputy CIO, and in the CISO category, Jason Ralph is listed as the deputy CISO.