“Cyber” has become a buzzword that encompasses everything. How “cybersecurity” actually manifests itself in practice is critical to the Department of Homeland Security’s “security”. Enter Executive Director of Acquisition Policy and Legislation Sarah Todd – who is working on some of the most pressing and critical advancements facing the department. Along with DHS Chief Information Security Officer Ken Bible, Todd has been instrumental in developing and executing the department’s DHS Vendor Cyber Hygiene Assessment Framework to align the homeland security vendor community with the department’s cybersecurity needs, and ensure that contractors with access to and dealing with critical sensitive information implement a comprehensive cybersecurity framework to protect DHS’ sensitive information from increasingly frequent and complex cyberattacks.
Todd came to the task with nearly a decade of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement contracting experience, most recently leading a workforce of more than 170 people and obligating in excess of $2.5 billion a year. In addition to working on the governance of cyber, Todd is also working on the inevitable deployment of advanced artificial intelligence and tools like ChatGPT. Her contributions to governing such advanced technologies contribute critically to the department’s security and to the ability of components to adopt such advancements in a controlled and safe way. Todd is also responsible for maintaining DHS procurement authorities, the Homeland Security Acquisition Regulations and the Homeland Security Acquisition Manual, as well as DHS-wide implementation of new Executive Orders, statutes, regulations and DHS-level policy affecting acquisition.