Katie Arrington

As of March 2025, Katie Arrington is Performing the Duties of the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer, a title she took on weeks after being appointed Chief Information Security Officer at the Department of Defense.

Career path

Arrington served two terms as a South Carolina State Representative and ran for the U.S. House of Representatives for South Carolina's 1st District in 2018, earning an endorsement from President Donald Trump.

During the first Trump administration she became the first Chief Information Security Officer for the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment, a role in which she served as the central hub aligning acquisition cybersecurity strategy.

In that position she launched the Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification program, the Trusted Capital Program, the NDAA 889 Task Force and the Supply Chain Working Group, and she led the White House COVID-19 Supply Chain Task Force for Acceleration.

In 2021 her office, CISO(A&S), was integrated into the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Industrial Policy, continuing its oversight of Defense Industrial Base cybersecurity and its representation on the Federal Acquisition Security Council.

She then moved to Exiger, where she served as Vice President of Government Affairs and later as Senior Vice President of External Affairs, working on supply chain visibility, artificial intelligence and national security issues and running for Congress again in 2022.

Earlier in her career she was Vice President of Sales and Operations at Dispersive Technologies, founded the consulting firm LD Innovations, and held positions at Booz Allen Hamilton, Centuria Corporation and Dispersive Networks, amassing more than 15 years of cyber experience.

She returned to the Pentagon as CISO in February 2025 and, weeks later, was named Performing the Duties of the Department of Defense Chief Information Officer, advising the Secretary of Defense on information management and IT, information assurance, non-intelligence space systems, satellite communications, spectrum and telecommunications.

Remit and public statements

Before this latest appointment she had served as Deputy CIO for Cybersecurity, providing policy, technical and program oversight on cybersecurity matters department-wide and representing the Secretary of Defense in international cybersecurity negotiations.

She has also sat on the board of the Charleston Defense Contractors Association and served as a key member of the DoD Strategic Cybersecurity Program for Defense Critical Missions and the Federal Acquisition Security Council.

On joining Exiger, she said, "Our supply chains and their vulnerabilities are one of the greatest threats to national security," Arrington said.