Cybersecurity Policy Report, CISA Gets New Acting Director, (Feb 27, 2026)
Organizations Mentioned:Lumen Technologies
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency’s acting director, Madhu Gottumukkala, has been named director–strategic implementation at the Department of Homeland Security and will be succeeded by Nick Andersen, CISA’s executive assistant director–cybersecurity, according to a senior DHS official.
“Madhu Gottumukkala has done a remarkable job in a thankless task of helping reform CISA back to its core statutory mission. He tackled the woke, weaponized, and bloated bureaucracy that existed at CISA, wrangling contracts to save American taxpayer dollars,” the official told CPR.
“As part of [DHS] Secretary [Kristi] Noem’s broader efforts to stop waste, fraud and abuse, which has already saved Americans $13 billion, Mr. Gottumukkala will now be serving at DHS as the Director of Strategic Implementation where he will continue his work to save taxpayer money,” the official said.
Mr. Gottumukkala has faced bipartisan criticism for, among other things, failing to keep Congress apprised of his plans for CISA’s reorganization (CPR, Feb. 11). He also reportedly used ChatGPT to process sensitive data and failed a polygraph test administered to determine his fitness to handle classified intelligence (CPR, Jan. 28).
Mr. Gottumukkala previously was chief information officer for South Dakota while Ms. Noem was the state’s governor. Mr. Andersen previously was president and chief operating officer at Invictus International Consulting LLC, a cybersecurity consultancy, and chief information security officer at the public sector division of Lumen Technologies, Inc.
The White House has nominated Sean Plankey, an adviser to Ms. Noem on Coast Guard issues, to be CISA’s director, but Senate confirmation of Mr. Plankey has been blocked by Sens. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) and Rick Scott (R., Fla.) (CPR, Jan. 14).
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