Top NSC cyber official returns to academia

JD Work, one of the National Security Council’s top cybersecurity policy officials, left his post at the White House earlier this month, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Work has returned to teaching at National Defense University’s College of Information and Cyberspace, one of the people said. The exact reasons for his White House departure are unclear. But one factor, according to the second person, involved higher-ups denying a request to extend his time there.

Both sources spoke on the condition of anonymity to freely discuss the development.

Work is a former intelligence official who taught at NDU before joining the National Security Council about a year ago working under Alexei Bulazel, the NSC’s senior cybersecurity director. His intelligence operations career has spanned some two decades.

In past roles, Work was also the Bren Chair of Cyber Conflict and Security at Marine Corps University and served as a senior advisor to the U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission.

He did not respond to a request for comment via LinkedIn. Nextgov/FCW has also asked a White House spokesperson for comment.

The departure is the latest major workforce update for the NSC cyber shop, which has taken a central role in developing a more hardened policy on offensive cyber matters. It’s widely expected that the NSC is working with the White House Office of the National Cyber Director on a forthcoming national cyber strategy that, in part, will craft a framework for offensive cyber operations.