Government IT Incompetents Hall Of Shame

Awan, Imran

U.S. House of Representatives Democrats' IT tech, Jan 2004 – ~Feb 2017, when the criminal investigation of him convinced most, but not all, Democratic Representatives to stop employing him.

Little IT education. Probably unlike Awan's employers and the media, I actually checked his claimed education. He went to a community college (see 10. No IT Education: For-Profit and Community Colleges, Other Training in Principles of IT Incompetence) then in Jan 2002 transferred to Johns Hopkins University (JHU) to get a BS in Information Systems. However, he went to JHU's Carey Business School so his degree is a business degree not an IT degree; see 1. What Is IT? Networking in Principles of IT Incompetence. Even before graduating in May 2004, he went to work (Jan 2004) for Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives, so the degree couldn't have been too hard.

Berlas, Mohammed

General Services Administration (GSA) Acting Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Jan 2019 – present, Jul 2018 – Sep 2018. GSA Security Engineering Director, Oct 2018 – present, Nov 2013 – Jun 2018. IT incompetent GSA essentially outsourced its CISO job to IT incompetent Accenture.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Berlas only has a BS in finance and management.

Bissell, Kelly

Accenture data breach Global Cybersecurity Lead (essentially Head Chief Information Security Officer, CISO), Jun 2016 – present. Advised President Joe Biden about government cybersecurity, Aug 2021. For more of his incriminating employment history see Dangerous Fraud Kelly Bissell, IT Incompetent Accenture Head CISO.

No or fake IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Bissell either (see Dangerous Fraud Kelly Bissell, IT Incompetent Accenture Head CISO) has no IT education or a fake IT education (bachelor's) from DeVry University. DeVry is another notorious for-profit college (see No IT Education: For-Profit and Community Colleges, Other Training in Principles of IT Incompetence) providing worthless educations, to employers who are even a little knowledgeable, and worthless degrees, to those few who can afford to pay the exorbitant tuition long enough to get one. The federal government would not provide educational loans to those attending DeVry, so should not accept an education from it as a qualification for government jobs, including contractors actually doing those jobs. Bissell also has a Master of Business Administration (MBA), which is not an IT education, from Emory University in Atlanta Georgia, where foreign-owned Accenture has offices.

Campbell, Lyn

Proofpoint Senior Vice President (SVP) for Global Operations and Information Technology (IT), Dec 2018 - present. Proofpoint Corporate Vice President for Global Operations, May 2014 - present. IT incompetent Proofpoint provides cybersecurity services, particularly for email, to the U.S. Government, particularly the IT incompetent Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Yahoo! Production Engineering Leader, Jun 2007 - May 2014. Yahoo! Senior Director Home Page & Verticals Production Engineering, Oct 2011 - Apr 2014.

Crabb, Gregory

U.S. Postal Service (USPS) post data breach and data breach Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), May 2015 – present. The USPS also considers itself a business, e.g. its website is usps.com not usps.gov.

No IT education. Only a BA in accounting.

$198,790 is Crabb's most recent annual salary as of May 2019 according to my FOIA request to USPS. ...

Dean, Nicole

Accenture Federal Services data breach Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Jan or Jun 2017 – present. For more of her shocking employment history see IT Incompetent Fed IT Company Accenture and CISO Nicole Dean Ransomwared, National Security In Danger.

Fake IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Dean only has a 1-year(!) Master of Science in Management in information systems security from Colorado Technical University. Colorado Technical University — nothing officially to do with the State of Colorado, although that association was probably fraudulently intended — is a notorious for-profit college providing worthless educations, to employers who are even a little knowledgeable, and worthless degrees, to those few who can afford to pay the exorbitant tuition long enough to get one; see No IT Education: For-Profit and Community Colleges, Other Training in Principles of IT Incompetence. The federal government would not provide educational loans to those attending CTU, so should not accept an education from it as a qualification for government jobs, including contractors actually doing those jobs. No other college so essentially Dean didn't even go to college.

Easterly, Jen

U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director, Jul 2021 – present. Morgan Stanley (investment bank) data breach Head of Cybersecurity, Feb 2017 – Jul 2021. See IT Hiring: Government, Business, and the Revolving Door in Principles of IT Incompetence.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Easterly only has a bachelor's degree in a subject she won't reveal — so almost certainly not in IT — and a Master of Arts in "politics, philosophy, and economics" from a foreign university.

Edwards, John

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Chief Information Officer (CIO), Feb 2016 – present. Previously worked for IT incompetent Accenture.

Fake IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Edwards only has a 2-year(!) BASc in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from ITT Technical Institute. ITT Tech — nothing to do with ITT the telecom company, although that association was probably fraudulently intended — was a notorious for-profit college that was finally shut down by the federal government for being a student loan scam, providing worthless educations, to employers who were even a little knowledgeable, and worthless degrees, to those few who could afford to pay the exorbitant tuition long enough to get one; see No IT Education: For-Profit and Community Colleges, Other Training in Principles of IT Incompetence. The federal government would not provide educational loans to those attending ITT Tech, so should not accept an education from it as a qualification for a government job, particularly one in national security. No other college so essentially Edwards didn't even go to college.

Gallagher, Sean

NASA Glenn Research Center post data breach Chief Information Officer (CIO), Jul 2012 – present. Booz Allen Hamilton Senior IT Manager, May 2004 – Jun 2012. U.S. Army, May 2000 – May 2004.

Fake IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Gallagher only has an MS in Computer Information Systems from the University of Phoenix, 2001 – 2003. The University of Phoenix — nothing officially to do with the City of Phoenix Arizona, although that association was probably fraudulently intended — is a notorious for-profit college providing worthless educations, to employers who are even a little knowledgeable, and worthless degrees, to those few who can afford to pay the exorbitant tuition long enough to get one; see No IT Education: For-Profit and Community Colleges, Other Training in Principles of IT Incompetence. The federal government would not provide educational loans to those attending U Phoenix, so should not accept an education from it as a qualification for a government job. (See also David Nelson, Nuclear Regulatory Commission data breach CIO.)

Garbars, Kurt

General Services Administration (GSA) Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Sep 2000 – Jun 2018 (retired). IT incompetent GSA essentially outsourced its CISO job to IT incompetent Accenture.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Garbars only has a BS in chemical engineering (this is not an IT degree), an MBA (Master of Business Administration), a 1-year(!) Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (1-year so can't be real) from a low-ranked college, and working on a Master's in viticulture and oenology in Australia.

Garcia, David

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) post data breach Chief Information Officer (CIO), Oct 2017 – present.

No IT education. Only a BSc in political science.

$179,700 is Garcia's most recent annual salary as of Feb 2019 according to my FOIA request to the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM). This is outrageous. Many doctors and lawyers don't make that much and, unlike Garcia, they are at least qualified; by law they have to be.

Kalember, Ryan

Proofpoint Executive Vice President (EVP) for Cybersecurity, Jun 2015 - present. IT incompetent Proofpoint provides IT services, particularly email, to the U.S. Government, including the IT incompetent Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the IT incompetent Department of Commerce (DOC).

Fake IT education. On Proofpoint's Leadership Team webpage, Kalember claims "He received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University, where he studied fault tolerance, cryptography, and authentication algorithms." That list is not a major, just a random collection of cybersecurity-sounding buzzwords. After an investigation it was discovered Kalember was hiding that his only education was a "BA in History in 2000, Classics 2001" and he had been planning to be a fraudulent IT incompetent leader in the computer industry since high school. ...

Kent, Suzette

Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO), the top IT job in the U.S. Government, Feb 2018 – Jul 2020. Corrupt Enron financier J.P. Morgan, Aug 2008 – Jul 2015. IT incompetent Accenture, Jun 1990 – Dec 2004.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Louisiana State University says Kent only has a BA in journalism and Kent's LinkedIn page says she only has a BA in advertising and marketing. According to my FOIA request (response of Jun 2020) to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, Kent only has a "Bachelor or Arts — School or Mass Communication-Journalism/Advertising with dual minor in Latin and Psychology".

Krebs, Chris

Krebs Stamos Group Partner, Jan 2021 – present. U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Director, Nov 2018 – Nov 2020. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD, precursor to CISA) acting Under Secretary for Homeland Security, Aug 2017 – Nov 2018. Microsoft Cybersecurity Policy Director, Feb 2014 – Mar 2017. See IT Hiring: Government, Business, and the Revolving Door in Principles of IT Incompetence.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Krebs only has a Bachelor of Arts in a non-IT subject and a JD from a low-ranked night law school.

Krug, Andrew

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) data breach Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Nov 2015 – present. Previously worked for IT incompetent Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, Booz).

No IT education. Only a BA in economics and an MS in management, according to my FOIA request to the SEC. On his LinkedIn page and elsewhere, Krug tries to imply he has an IT education and hide that he doesn't.

Manfra, Jeanette

Google Global Director of Security, Jan 2020 – present. U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Assistant Director for Cybersecurity, Nov 2018 – Jan 2020. U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD, precursor to CISA) Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity, Jul 2017 – Nov 2018. Previously worked for Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, Booz). See IT Hiring: Government, Business, and the Revolving Door in Principles of IT Incompetence.

Marby, Goran

Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) CEO and President, May 2016 – present. ICANN is a quasi-governmental supposedly-non-profit corporation that is now very much a business and that is supposed to be entirely composed of IT experts.

No IT education. Only a BS in finance from the University of Gothenburg (School of Business, Economics and Law), Sweden.

Nally, Kevin

Secret Service Chief Information Officer (CIO), Nov 2015 – present.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Nally only has a BS in agronomy and crop science and a Master's in ship building.

$188,700 is Nally's most recent annual salary as of Feb 2019 according to my FOIA request to the Secret Service (yes, even the Secret Service is subject to FOIA). This is outrageous. Many doctors and lawyers don't make that much and, unlike Nally, they are at least qualified; by law they have to be.

Natarajan, Nitin

U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Deputy Director, Feb 2021 – present. Started as a paramedic (in ambulances) for several years and leveraged that experience to get somewhat-related jobs in the government, stepping his way up.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Natarajan only has a bachelor's degree in a subject he won't reveal — so almost certainly not in IT — and a non-IT Master of Arts.

Nelson, David

Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) data breach Chief Information Officer (CIO), Aug 2016 – present. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data breach CIO, hired specifically to fix cybersecurity at HealthCare.gov; Feb 2014 – Aug 2016.

No IT education. Only a bachelor's degree in business management from the University of Phoenix; see The Most Important IT Credential: An IT Education in Principles of IT Incompetence. Not only is that not an IT education, it is a fake education. The University of Phoenix — nothing officially to do with the City of Phoenix Arizona, although that association was probably fraudulently intended — is a notorious for-profit college providing worthless educations, to employers who are even a little knowledgeable, and worthless degrees, to those few who can afford to pay the exorbitant tuition long enough to get one; see No IT Education: For-Profit and Community Colleges, Other Training in Principles of IT Incompetence. The federal government would not provide educational loans to those attending U Phoenix, so should not accept an education from it as a qualification for a government job, particularly one protecting the lives of millions. (See also Sean Gallagher, NASA Glenn Research Center post data breach CIO.) Nelson has no other college.

Pagliano, Bryan

Department of State (DOS) Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's IT tech, Jan 2009 – Jan 2013. Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign IT director.

No IT education. Only a BA in political science and an MBA (Master of Business Administration).

Pagliano was responsible for setting up and administering the unsecured and illegal email server Hillary Clinton used for government business, some of it top secret. This risked national security — it was hacked — and cost Hillary Clinton the presidency.

Penfield, Susan

Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, Booz) Chief "Innovation" Officer ("CIO"), Apr 2016 - present. IT incompetent Booz is a leading provider of IT services to the U.S. Government, particularly defense and intelligence, like the IT incompetent National Security Agency (NSA).

No IT education. Only a BS in management. But ironically, as Penfield spouts everywhere, she is "passionate about mentoring and advocating for women in STEM careers" (STEM = Science, Technology, Engineering, Math; see STEM Is Not IT Education in Principles). ...

Previn, Fletcher

Cisco Chief Information Officer (CIO), Mar 2021 – present. IBM CIO, May 2017 – Mar 2021. IBM Director then VP of workplace tech, Mar 2014 – May 2017. IBM CIO assistant, Jun 2013 – Mar 2014. Thus, Business ITIHOS. Government ITIHOS because Previn is "executive sponsor for Cisco's work with various US Government agencies" (his words on LinkedIn). Media ITIHOS because Previn only got his CIO positions because he is a celebrity, being the child of celebrities, as well as thus being a media darling, interviewed often by the star-struck IT incompetent media about IT.

Riddle, Chuck

Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Chief Information Officer (CIO), Oct 2018 – present. SEC data breach Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Nov 2016 – Oct 2018. Previously worked for IT incompetent Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, Booz).

No IT education. Only a BA in communications (the dumb jock major not telecommunications) and an MBA (Master of Business Administration).

Rogers, Melinda

Department of Justice (DOJ) Chief Information Officer (CIO), Sep 2020 – present. DOJ data breach Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Sep 2010 – Sep 2020. Equifax Assistant Vice President (fraud detection), Sep 2000 – Sep 2007.

No IT education. Only a BS in economics and an MBA in marketing and finance.

Seaver, Kristin

U.S. Postal Service (USPS) post data breach and data breach Chief Information Officer (CIO), Apr 2016 – present. The USPS also considers itself a business, e.g. its website is usps.com not usps.gov.

No IT education. Only a BS in industrial engineering (despite its name, this is more of a business management field; it's certainly not IT) and an MBA (Master of Business Administration).

Seymour, Donna

Office of Personnel Management (OPM) data breach Chief Information Officer (CIO), Dec 2013 – Feb 2016. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), position unknown, 2016? – present.

Little IT education. Only a BS in computer science (she claims) from a low-ranked college. Even from a good university that is not enough for a large organization's CIO.

Snowden, Edward

Booz Allen Hamilton (BAH, Booz) IT tech, contracted to the IT incompetent National Security Agency (NSA), in 2013 when he hacked the NSA then fled to Russia to avoid capture and execution for espionage. Previously a Dell IT tech, contracted to the IT incompetent Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), in 2012 when he hacked the CIA undiscovered. See 9/11 Was Due to IT Incompetence. Currently, an oft-quoted media darling.

No IT education. An IT education is the most important IT credential and Snowden is a high school dropout.

Thomson, Allan

LookingGlass Cyber Solutions Chief Technology Officer (CTO; Chief Information Officer (CIO) equivalent), Aug 2013 - present. IT incompetent LookingGlass provides IT services to the IT incompetent Secret Service.

Little IT education. Only a BS in computer science from the low-ranked University of Glasgow.

Foreigner: British. BS from the University of Glasgow and British universities are well-known for Russian agents.

Wolfe, Doug

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) Chief Information Officer (CIO), Oct 2013 – Feb 2016, preceding current IT incompetent CIA CIO.

No IT education. Only a BS in mechanical engineering, which is not an IT degree.

On Wolfe's watch, the CIA may have been hacked. Because he knows he is an IT incompetent fraud, he initiated outsourcing the CIA's IT to Amazon, which can hire whoever (e.g., Indians in India). Like the NSA, the CIA also hired high school dropout and traitor Edward Snowden and was hacked by him; in fact, most top secret documents stolen by Snowden were from the CIA.