WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Acting Director Beth Cobert today announced the appointment of Clifton Triplett as a new senior cyber and information technology advisor. The appointment fulfills an important tenet of the Office of Personnel Management’s Cybersecurity Action Report and will provide the agency with a valuable resource for advancing cybersecurity-related goals in collaboration with a broad spectrum of partners and stakeholders.

“To help build on the Federal Government’s efforts to strengthen our cybersecurity posture and provide assistance to individuals impacted by the recent cyber intrusions, we must recruit and retain a variety of highly motivated and qualified individuals from this constantly evolving field,” said Acting Director Beth Cobert. “Today’s announcement of hiring Clif builds on the growing capacity here at the Office of Personnel Management and underscores our relentless dedication to protecting this agency’s valuable IT systems and information. Clif’s experience in building information technology infrastructure is top-rated, and I am excited to have him on board.”

Reporting directly to the OPM Acting Director, Triplett will serve as a key advocate for advancing the state of enterprise architecture and cybersecurity, including information technology investments, capabilities, and services. Working alongside OPM’s CIO, Triplett will support the ongoing response to the recent incidents, complete development of OPM’s plan to mitigate future incidents, and recommend further improvements to best secure OPM’s IT architecture.

OPM continues to take aggressive action to strengthen its broader cyber defenses and information technology (IT) systems, in partnership with experts from DoD, DHS, FBI and other interagency partners. Outlined in the Cybersecurity Action Report, OPM identified 15 steps to improve security and modernize its systems, including: completing deployment of two-factor Strong Authentication for all users; expanding continuous monitoring of its systems; installing additional, advanced security firewalls to improve perimeter and internal security controls, and the hiring of a new cybersecurity advisor.

“I’m honored to join the dedicated team at OPM and I’m eager to immediately get to work with our interagency partners,” said Triplett. “We all have a role to play in securing our systems and protecting our information, and I’m committed to supporting these critical efforts across the Federal Government.”

Triplett comes to OPM with 30 years of cross-industry and IT organizational transformation experience. He has significant experience with Fortune 200 companies and industry leaders in the defense, telecommunications, oil field service, tractor, automotive, and aerospace industries. Before joining OPM, he was a managing partner at SteelPointe Partners, a global management consulting company.

Prior to his business experience, Triplett had a distinguished military career. He is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and spent nearly 10 years of active duty service working with advanced technologies in support of command and control systems.