May 19, 2023 (Saint Paul, MN) – Minnesota IT Services (MNIT) has named John Israel as Assistant Commissioner and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) for the State of Minnesota. Israel has served as Interim CISO since October 2022 and was chosen for the permanent role in a competitive statewide application process.

As CISO, Israel will lead the executive branch cybersecurity teams, the Minnesota Cybersecurity Task Force (MCTF), and collaborative efforts to engage with entities statewide to build effective cybersecurity strategies across all levels of government in the state. Israel’s appointment comes as Minnesota is building a whole-of-state cybersecurity plan. 

"Minnesota’s whole-of-state approach is critical to protecting the information of our citizens, residents, and visitors and keeping systems running. John Israel has experience bringing together all levels of government, critical industry, and public institutions to ensure that cybersecurity is embedded into the work we do to serve Minnesotans.”

Tarek Tomes, MNIT Commissioner, State of Minnesota CIO

During his tenure as interim CISO, Israel helped oversee cybersecurity operations for the state and multiple grant-funded outreach programs that provide cybersecurity support and resources to counties, port cities, and tribal nations throughout Minnesota.

He has over 25 years of IT experience leading, building, and growing cybersecurity and IT functions in municipal, county, and state entities integrating highly technical functions into strategic organizational operations. Before joining MNIT in 2008, Israel led IT operations for the Washington County Sheriff's Office.

In his roles at MNIT, including Deputy CISO and Security Operations Center (SOC) leader, he has been instrumental in building the state's security operations teams. This includes the state's first Security Operations Center (SOC) and the cybersecurity threat intelligence sharing capabilities within the Minnesota Fusion Center hosted by the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. In 2019, Israel received the Visionary Security Operations Leader of the Year from the Cyber Security Summit.

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About Minnesota IT Services 

Minnesota IT Services, led by the state’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. MNIT employs more than 2,400 people. Together, we build, maintain, and secure the State’s IT infrastructure, applications, projects, and services. MNIT sets 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 5.7 million Minnesotans.