The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has hired Donna Roy to be its new chief information officer. She will start at the CFPB on Nov. 10, according to a published report.
Before joining the CFPB, Roy was executive director of the Department of Homeland Security’s Information Sharing and Services Office. The former Marine has spent the past 13 years working at the Department of Homeland Security, starting there as head of the agency’s Enterprise Data Management Office. Before joining the DHS, Roy spent five years at the U.S. Geological Survey.
Roy is replacing Katherine Sickbert, who was the CFPB’s acting CIO. She has been acting CIO since May. She is also the CFPB’s Deputy CIO, a position she has held for nearly two years.
Among the seven different divisions within the CFPB’s Operations Department, the CIO role was the only one not filled on a permanent basis.
Ensuring that an effective information security program is in place was one of three “major management challenges” at the CFPB, according to a report published last month by the Office of the Inspector General, which provides independent oversight of the CFPB and the Federal Reserve Board.
Within the information security program, the OIG noted that there are issues with respect to access controls and collaboration tools, which has resulted in some employees having access to data and information they should not otherwise be able to see. The CFPB has also been “challenged” for five years to implement the necessary technology to scan its databases and applications for vulnerabilities.
The report also noted that the bureau is short staffed with respect to information technology personnel, which “may delay its ability to meet the requirements of an executive order that highlights the importance of building a strong cybersecurity workforce.” The CFPB is also attempting to address increased levels of employee dissatisfaction and has undertaken a compensation study to evaluate possible changes to the bureau’s compensation structure.
