Washington, DC – Interim Chief Technology Officer Barney Krucoff this week named Suneel Cherukuri as the new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) overseeing cybersecurity for the District of Columbia Government.

Cherukuri, who has been working at the Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) for 10 years as a contractor and employee, has over 20 years of industry experience in large enterprise network environments specializing in cyber security architecture, design, engineering and operations. Cherukuri replaces former CISO John MacMichael who left for the private sector earlier this year and will report directly to Krucoff.

“Suneel provided critical expertise as OCTO focused on expanding and strengthening our cybersecurity efforts over the past decade,” Krucoff said. “This is a well-deserved promotion which will allow Suneel to step forward into the citywide leadership role for cybersecurity.”

Prior to OCTO, Cherukuri worked at Networking For Future, a DC-based IT firm. He also lived in Melbourne, Australia where he worked at one of the largest banks, ANZ, as a Senior Technical Analyst and as IT Security consultant at Dimension Data.

“This is a true honor and a great responsibility,” Cherukuri said. “Cybersecurity is one of the biggest challenges that is faced in today’s world of digital governance. We can never be 100 percent protected from all the cyber threats, the key is to be better prepared by investing wisely in technology and people and focus on reducing overall risk factors.

As CISO, Cherukuri will provide leadership and day-to-day coordination for securing and protecting DC’s information resources, and the supporting infrastructure, from external and internal threats, while administering the overall security operations.

He will also oversee three divisions within OCTO:

• Security Architecture and Engineering which is responsible for tools and technologies protecting the District’s assets and resources
• Security Operation Center (SOC) which monitors the District’s cyber security posture 24/7 across the network and all systems, detects and leads OCTO’s response to security incidents, and escalates and reports on events.
• Governance Risk and Compliance which plays a vital role in development and oversight of information technology policies, procedures and standards for the District.