Three senior cyber officials at FBI retiring: report

Three of the top cybersecurity officials at the FBI are planning to retire in the coming weeks, The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday. 

The departing officials are Assistant Director Scott Smith, who runs the FBI’s cyber division; David Resch, the executive assistant director of the Criminal, Cyber, Response and Services Branch; and Carl Ghattas, the executive assistant director of the National Security Branch. 

Smith is expected to take a job in the private sector, the Journal reported. His deputy, Howard Marshall, also left the bureau in recent weeks.

{mosads}

Likewise, Resch and Ghattas are also reportedly planning to move into the private sector after leaving the FBI. 

“As I retire after 28 years of government service to transition into the private sector, I have full confidence that under Director [Christopher] Wray’s steadfast leadership, the Bureau will remain the FBI the American people have depended on for 110 years,” Resch said in a statement provided to the Journal by the FBI.

The departures come as the FBI seeks to attract cyber talent to its ranks amid mounting concerns over cyberthreats. 

The Journal reported that while it is not uncommon for officials to leave the agency after they become eligible for retirement benefits at 50, it is unusual for so many officials to leave at once.

More agents are expected to leave the bureau soon, the Journal reported. 

The news comes at a time of high tension between law enforcement agencies, particularly the FBI, and the Trump administration.