Secretary Napolitano Names Philip Reitinger as Deputy Undersecretary of National Protection & Programs Directorate

Release Date: March 11, 2009

For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
Contact: 202-282-8010

U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano announced today her appointment of Philip Reitinger as the Deputy Undersecretary of the Department’s National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD)*. In this role, Reitinger will be charged with protecting the U.S. government’s computing systems from domestic and foreign threats.

“Phil’s background in cybersecurity and computer crime coupled with his experience working across the federal government and the private sector to develop innovative security strategies makes him an asset to our department,” said Secretary Napolitano.

Reitinger currently serves as Chief Trustworthy Infrastructure Strategist at Microsoft Corp., where he is responsible for helping improve the protection and security of the critical information technology infrastructure. This role has allowed him to coordinate closely with government agencies and private partners on cybersecurity protection programs to build trustworthy computing systems worldwide.

As a current member of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Advisory Council, Reitinger advises the FEMA administrator on aspects of cyber security related to emergency management. He is an expert on computer crime and policy, and previously was the Executive Director of the U.S. Department of Defense’s (DOD) Cyber Crime Center, charged with providing electronic forensic services and supporting cyber investigative functions department-wide. Before joining DOD, Reitinger served as Deputy Chief of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property division at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Reitinger holds a law degree from Yale Law School and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering and computer science from Vanderbilt University.

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*added "the" in front of Department; removed 's' from Protections, added 's' to Program

This page was last reviewed/modified on March 12, 2009.