Gregg replaces Kevin Ford, who left the position in September to serve as Esri’s CISO. Ford became North Dakota’s CISO in November 2019 after former CISO Sean Wiese took charge of the state’s Cyber Operations Center.
After Ford’s departure, Gregg took on the role in an interim capacity.
“I am excited about this new role,” Gregg said in a release. “First, we will be focused on the basics, endpoint protection, vulnerability management, third-party risk management and user awareness training.”
Following that, he said, “we will further protect what matters most for the state and be better prepared to react properly to pertinent threats.”
Before serving as CISO, Gregg was the director of state cyber operations and brings more than two decades of experience in information security and risk management.
“North Dakota is leading the nation in cyber defense with a whole-of-government approach, and Michael will ensure that we continue to expand our capabilities to make safe the data of every citizen and resident,” Riley said in the release. “He continues to be a great asset to our team by assuming this new role, and we are looking forward to the growth of the cybersecurity team under his leadership.”
