Fired California cybersecurity chief speaks out on sudden termination, security concerns
The fired chief of California's cybersecurity agency is speaking out about his termination and sounding the alarm over state-wide security concerns.
The agency's mission is to prevent cyber attacks. The now ex-cybersecurity chief says no one has told him why he was fired.
"It was actually shocking," former cybersecurity chief Edward Bombita said. "They didn't give me a reason. They did not give me a reason. They thanked me for my service and said HR will talk to you. HR did not have the reason."
Fired from his job, the now former commander of the California Cybersecurity Integration Center run by the Office of Emergency Services is calling for the agency to be run independently, after he says competing priorities of state emergencies left cyber attack prevention a lost priority
"The priorities of the Office of Emergency Services do not match those of the Cybersecurity Integration Center," Bombita said.
Cybersecurity is the prevention of attacks on networks.
"For someone that doesn't understand exactly what the big deal is, everything is touched by a network these days," Bombita said.
The state of Nevada was recently hit by a cybersecurity attack, shutting down websites and closing the state DMV.
"This could happen here in California and especially because we are so large, our economy is so big," Bombita said.
"While we do not comment on personnel matters, protecting Californians from cyber threats remains a top priority," a spokesperson for CalOES said in a statement following a request about Bombita's termination.
"Looking back at the whole year, nothing that I did was so egregious that it would result in a termination," Bombita said.
Bombita said he's most worried about cybersecurity threats to the state's smaller water districts, which rely on the state to help protect them from hackers.