November 7, 2017

Contact:

MNIT Communications

As MNIT’s Chief Information Security Officer Chris Buse steps into a new role at the Office of the Legislative Auditor, Aaron Call will lead security initiatives at Minnesota IT Services

St. Paul, MN: Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) is pleased to announce that Aaron Call will serve as Minnesota IT Services’ Interim Chief Information Security Officer. As MNIT’s Chief Information Security Officer since 2007, Chris Buse, takes a new opportunity at the Office of the Legislative Auditor at the end of November, Aaron Call will take the lead in implementing the enterprise security architecture for Minnesota state government.

Aaron Call’s diverse professional background in IT, law, and criminal justice make him uniquely positioned to help the state address the cybersecurity challenges of our modern era. He has previously led security operations in the US Department of Defense, and his work in international private-sector organizations steeped him in network warfare against the most advanced global adversaries.

For the last three years, Aaron has served as the Director of Information Security for Minnesota IT Services. In this role, Aaron managed the Enterprise Security Office – a team of cybersecurity experts who work to keep their “eyes on the glass” to protect the people of our state from more than 3 million probes and cyber-attacks a day.

“State systems and Minnesotans’ data are increasingly under attack, and those attacks are growing more sophisticated,” said Minnesota IT Services’ Commissioner Thomas Baden. “As our Director of Information Security, Aaron Call has already been a tremendous asset to the state of Minnesota. We are certainly proud and very fortunate to have his experience and leadership as Interim Chief Information Security Officer.”

“Having served as the state of Minnesota’s Chief Information Security Officer for just over ten years, I know first-hand how vigilant and nimble we need to be to meet the cyber-threat in Minnesota,” said Chris Buse. “The State of Minnesota is in great hands with Aaron Call. His expertise and dedication fully equip him to move the state forward as we work together to protect all Minnesotans.”

Aaron is a graduate of Southern Illinois University and the Southern Illinois University School of Law. Minnesota IT Services works to protect citizen’s personal information and keep state systems running. Minnesota students and families can visit the MNIT website to get tips and learn more about cybersecurity best practices.

About Minnesota IT Services

Minnesota IT Services, led by Minnesota’s Chief Information Officer, is the Information Technology agency for Minnesota’s executive branch, providing enterprise and local IT services to over 70 agencies, boards and commissions. Minnesota IT Services builds, maintains, and secures the State’s IT infrastructure, applications, projects and services. We work to set IT strategy, direction, policies and standards for enterprise IT leadership and planning. We also serve Minnesotans by connecting all 87 counties, 300 cities, and 200 public higher education campuses across the state on the MNET network. Through public-private partnerships, our team proactively protects the state’s information systems and the private data of 5.5 million Minnesotans.

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