Hawaii Names Vincent Hoang as Chief Information Security Officer

At the beginning of December, the Aloha State installed a new chief information security officer, according to an official announcement from Hawaii's Enterprise Technology Services agency on Dec. 15. Hoang joins the agency after a stint as an enterprise architect for Hawaiian Telecom "where he secured infrastructure for customers and conducted network architecture, performance, security risk, and systems infrastructure assessments."

Hoang's role is one of three cybersecurity positions that were approved by the Hawaii legislature. The other two roles are support roles as the organization lasers in on ramping up endpoint security.

Part of the goal in tapping Hoang for role stems in part from his local network as well. In addition to his work at Hawaiian Telecom, Hoang is a past president of the InfraGard Honolulu Members Alliance, he participated in the Po‘oihe Cyber Security Exercise as a Red Team lead and he assessed entrants in the At-Large Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition as a White Team judge in 2015 and 2016, according to the state's press release.

"The state is fortunate to have an individual of Vince’s caliber leading our cybersecurity program, which safeguards our critical IT infrastructure and protected data," said Hawaii CIO Todd Nacapuy. "As a local resident, Vince has demonstrated a strong commitment to building a sustainable cybersecurity ecosystem and talent pool in Hawaii, which will benefit our efforts to develop career path opportunities for our state IT workers as well as students entering the workforce."