In Brief

Amit Yoran on Why He Left DHS

The former US cybersecurity leader on his departure

By Todd Datz

What were your biggest frustrations during your tenure at DHS?
Perhaps a lack of effectiveness in much of the government's security practices, a lack of practicality. There's a phenomenal amount of paperwork around certification and accreditation. There's a significantly sized industry around Washington, D.C., running paperwork exercises on cybersecurity, as opposed to investing in improved operations and implementing security technologies.

Take, for example, NIAP [National Information Assurance Partnership]. The Department of Defense says it won't procure any products that haven't been through this certification process. It takes several quarters, if not years, and costs millions of dollars. And what comes out at the end is an approved product for that specific platform, for that version of technology. So you can't apply patches and fixes because it violates your certification. It's a paradigm, an academic exercise. The practical implementation of it—the practical improvement on cybersecurity—is zero. In fact, most people don't even understand what the NIAP certification gets you; it doesn't say your product is secure or doesn't have flaws.

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