COLLOQUIUM
Department of Computer Science and Engineering
University of South Carolina

The Role of the Department of Homeland Security in 
Cyber and Workforce Development

Nicole Dean

Deputy Director, National Cyber Security Division
Department of Homeland Security

Date: April 1, 2011
Time: 1300-1400 (1pm-2pm)
Place: Swearingen 1A03 (Faculty Lounge)


Nicole M. Dean is the Deputy Director for the National Cyber Security
Division (NCSD), within Cybersecurity and Communications (CS&C) in the
National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD) of the Department
of Homeland Security (DHS). She provides executive leadership in an
effort to build and maintain an effective national cyberspace response
system and implement a cyber-risk management program for the
protection of critical infrastructure. She works collaboratively with
public, private and international entities to secure the nation’s
critical cyber infrastructure.

Prior to her current appointment, Ms. Dean served as the Deputy
Director of the Network Security Deployment (NSD) branch within NCSD
and as the Program Manager for the National Cybersecurity Protection
System (NCPS), also known as EINSTEIN, and the National Cybersecurity
Protection Program (NCPP). She was responsible for acquiring and
developing the appropriate technologies and processes in order to
improve the United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT)
operations response capabilities; integrate multiple cyber communities
of interests; engage industry to increase the potential for
industry/vendor generated technology; and enhance the ability to
secure the nation’s cybersecurity posture.

Ms. Dean has more than 10 years of experience in Federal government
and Department of Defense communications and information technology
systems development, operations, information assurance, and
management.  Before joining DHS, Ms. Dean served as the Chief of the
Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) Information System Center
overseeing DISA’s world-wide classified and unclassified
administrative world-wide networks that support over 8,500 users.
While there, she led the first ever multi-million dollar contract for
performance-based IT service support.

She has also worked at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) as the
Joint Worldwide Intelligence Communications System (JWICS) Program
Manager.  There she deployed a new secure voice system that leveraged
voice over Internet protocol (VoIP), providing secure compartmented
voice communications to anyone on an intelligence community
network. Additionally, she fielded a single global secure grid of
desktop video teleconference (VTC) systems that connects people so
they can see each other face to face around the globe from their
desktops. She also served on a rotational assignment to the Office of
the Assistant Secretary of Defense National Information Infrastructure
(ASD/NII) in support of Enterprise Wide Systems Engineering (EWSE)
where her efforts led to a new policy framework within DOD to guide
the development of the ~ $50 billion Transformational Communication
investment portfolio.

Ms. Dean is a certified Level 3 program manager. She holds a Bachelor
of Science Degree in both Liberal Arts and Information Technology.
Ms. Dean also holds a Masters in Science Management Information
Systems Security degree from Colorado Technical University.