CISA turns to former HHS official to lead infrastructure security division

At HHS, Brian Mazanec was charged with helping secure the health sector. Now he’ll oversee security efforts across all 16 critical infrastructure sectors.

Justin Doubleday@jdoubledayWFED

November 3, 2026 4:24 pm

2 min read

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is turning to a former Department of Health and Human Services official to head up CISA’s infrastructure security division.

Brian Mazanec is now serving as acting executive assistant director for infrastructure security at CISA. He was sworn in Monday, according to CISA.

Mazanec previously served as deputy assistant secretary and director of the Center for Preparedness within HHS’s Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR). He stepped down from ASPR last week after serving there since January 2023.

During his time at HHS, Mazanec helped spearhead the department’s response to significant events like the Change Healthcare ransomware attack. The health sector is consistently one of the top targets for ransomware and other cyber attacks.

He also served at ASPR as the office responded to infectious disease outbreaks, such as the hantavirus outbreak earlier this year.

While at HHS, Mazanec was “no stranger to the CISA mission,” CISA wrote about the new appointee, as he “also partnered with CISA and the Federal Bureau of Investigation on joint cybersecurity advisories and engaged critical infrastructure partners across the sector.”

Mazanec takes over at CISA’s infrastructure security division as the agency kicks of “critical infrastructure security and resilience month.” The division is charged with securing critical infrastructure from “all hazards” and conducts risk assessments, along with providing tools, training and other assistance.

This year, CISA launched a new “CI Fortify” initiative aimed at encouraging critical infrastructure organizations to be resilient to successful cyber attacks and even plan for attacks that could sever their connections to internet, telecommunications and other technology services. The agency’s goal is for organizations to prepare to continue maintaining essential services through such cyber outages.

CISA has also been focused on securing defense critical infrastructure, which support military bases and operations, including through a partnership with the Army.

In addition to his previous role at HHS, Mazanec also led the strategic warfare, security and intelligence portfolio at the Government Accountability Office, among other roles at GAO. He also worked on Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) issues at the Defense Intelligence Agency, the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Matters, and the Joint Staff.

Mazanec isn’t the only personnel news at CISA this week. The agency also announced Brian Bonacci has been permanently appointed as executive assistant director for emergency communications. Bonacci had been serving in the role in an acting capacity since August.

Bonacci previously served as chief of staff at CISA from August 2025 to November 2025, before joining Department of Homeland Security headquarters as senior counselor through this past August.

Meanwhile, CISA has turned to Christina Duvall to serve as acting chief operations support officer. She previously served as CISA’s director of facilities.