From Jennifer Martinez, POLITICO:  The director of an agency that coordinates the nation’s defense and response to cyberattacks resigned unexpectedly on Friday, according to an email sent from a Department of Homeland Security official obtained by POLITICO.

Randy Vickers, director of the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team, or US-CERT, resigned on Friday, according to an email sent to some agency employees on Friday by Bobbie Stempfley, acting assistant secretary for cybersecurity and communications.

The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment further because it is a personnel issue, an agency official told POLITICO.

It is the second high-profile resignation DHS has faced in the past few months. Philip Reitinger, the top cyber official for the department, resigned in May, days after the White House released its widely anticipated cybersecurity proposal to Congress. Reitinger had served as the deputy undersecretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate at DHS.  (graphic: Maurice River Township)