President Donald Trump has nominated Palantir security chief Michael LoSapio to lead CISA, putting an executive from the controversial government supplier in line to run America’s civilian cyber defense agency. The nomination , announced on Monday, could end CISA’s nearly two-year wait for a Senate-confirmed director following Jen Easterly’s departure in January 2025. LoSapio has served as Palantir’s CISO since September 2024 , having previously led the company’s infrastructure and network security team. He first joined the data analytics outfit in 2013, later spent a spell at database company SingleStore, and returned to Palantir in 2017. If confirmed, LoSapio would move from securing Palantir’s systems to leading the federal government’s main civilian cyber defense agency. CISA protects federal civilian networks and works with critical infrastructure operators, including power, water, and telecommunications providers. It’s a substantial job, particularly given the state of the agency he would inherit. CISA has shed more than 1,000 staff, roughly a third of its workforce, since Trump returned to the White House, according to reports . It’s now trying to plug the gaps, although acting director Nick Andersen said in September that around 250 would-be recruits were still waiting for security clearance before they could get to work. Andersen has been running CISA since February. With fewer people to go around, CISA is also rethinking where to spend its time. A strategy published last month emphasizes infrastructure whose failure would do the most damage, raising questions about what gets less attention as the agency operates with fewer staff. LoSapio would be the second person Trump has put forward for the role…