Ian serves as the Cybersecurity State Coordinator for the state of Washington for CISA, based in Olympia, WA. He supports the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) mission of strengthening the security and resilience of the nation’s critical infrastructure.
His program coordinates cyber preparedness, risk mitigation and incident response, and provides cyber security resources, including assessments, to the state, local, tribal, and territorial government entities and the nation’s sixteen critical infrastructure sectors.
Prior to joining DHS and CISA, Ian worked in both IT and cybersecurity for over 25 years. He started as an Intelligence Specialist in the U.S. Navy, right out of high school and then transitioned to the University of Washington, Bothell and earned his B.S. in Computing and Software Systems in 2002. Upon graduating college he got a commission in the U.S. Air Force and worked as a Communication Officer at Offutt AFB in Nebraska. After separating from the Air Force in 2006, Ian took a civilian job doing cybersecurity, software development, and cyberspace planning for USSTRATCOM. During his time at USSTRATCOM, Ian earned his master’s degree in Cybersecurity from Bellevue University in Bellevue, Nebraska. Ian was the first student to graduate from Bellevue University’s Masters in Cybersecurity program in 2012. In 2015, Ian and his family decided to move home to the Northwest and took a job at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard as a Cybersecurity Engineer. After a promotion and a year of working as the Platform IT (Operational Technology) Branch Manager, he accepted a position as a Cybersecurity Advisor position within CISA. After a year of interviews, security checks and waiting, he was brought on as the Cybersecurity State Coordinator for the state of Washington in March of 2021.
As the Cybersecurity State Coordinator for Washington State, Ian works with state agencies, counties, and cities/towns to help them shore up their cybersecurity by partnering with them on assessments and offering CISA technical services. Through these partnerships he builds and cultivates relationships and trust throughout the state.
Ian maintains his Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification, since 2014.
