Brian Harrell
East Coast United States
A connoisseur of fine security practices. Husband, father, Marine, and former Assistant Secretary at @DHSgov under POTUS 45.
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Articles by Brian Harrell
Security in the wires: How the energy sector rebuilt the power grid post-9/11
By • Sep 11, 2026 September 11, 2001, reshaped the foundational architecture of American national security. While immediate policy shifts focused on aviation, intelligence and border control, an equally profound transformation quietly began within the nation’s critical infrastructure. The energy sector, long optimized primarily for efficiency, reliability and low cost, faced a stark new reality.
How CSOs Can Win Board Support for Gunshot Detection Technology
For many chief security officers (CSO), the conversation about gunshot detection technology begins long before a system is purchased or deployed. It starts with the challenge of framing the technology effectively for chief executive officers and boards, by anticipating tough questions, and aligning the investment with corporate risk priorities.
Your community’s critical infrastructure is at risk. Here’s how to build resilience and ‘collective defense’
By and • Nov 19, 2025 November is Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilience Month, an annual recognition of the interdependent roles that critical infrastructure sectors hold in day-to-day life and national security as well as a reminder of the need for collaboration to protect our most critical sectors.
Public and Private Collaboration Can Help Bolster our Cyber-Posture Original
CybersecuritySecurity & Business ResilienceGovernment: Federal, State and Local The escalating and constant digital threats from state-sponsored adversaries like China, Iran, North Korea, and Russia coincide with a fractured global governance and a shifting domestic policy landscape. This moment presents a unique opportunity for the administration to continue to set the tone as a global leader in cyber threat deterrence. Public and private collaboration can help with this effort.
Crossed Wires: The GRC Gap Threatening Critical Infrastructure
Most of my focus these days centers on digital threats to key systems and ensuring that China is being removed from our fragile supply chain that we depend on every day in the energy sector. To be successful at this, the utility sector needs to invest heavily in cybersecurity threat hunting, open-source intelligence tools to give us a leg up when the feds are slow to share, and security information and event management (SIEM) platforms to better aggregate security information.
Restoring U.S. cyber resilience: A blueprint for the new administration
As the incoming Trump administration prepares to take office, it confronts a critical juncture for cybersecurity. The escalating digital threats from state-sponsored adversaries like China, Iran, North Korea and Russia coincide with fractured global governance and a shifting domestic policy landscape. This moment presents a unique opportunity for the administration to establish itself as a global leader in offensive cybersecurity deterrence.
How to remove the cybersecurity gridlock from the nation's energy lifelines
In a world where every digital connection has the potential to be a vulnerability, the stakes for cybersecurity have never been higher. The recent statement from National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on supply chain security brings into sharp focus the escalating threats faced by critical infrastructure operators, particularly the energy sector.
Achieving energy resilience: Deep insight into threats, assets and national policy is the first step Original
Brian Harrell is the former assistant secretary for infrastructure protection at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and current chief security officer for a large energy company. Mark Freedman is principal and CEO of Rebel Global Security and the former chief of staff for the U.S. Department of State’s Counterterrorism Bureau. Resilience is the new buzzword in the energy sector.
Opinion: Look, up in the sky. It’s a Chinese drone Original
Connecticut, welcome to the issue of Chinese drones, which is now being considered by our legislature. Public safety agencies in our state and across the nation are filling the skies with uncrewed aerial systems (UAS) — drones — for purposes of improving safety, efficiency, and response times. Drones offer tremendous benefits, such as search and rescue and tracking felons.
Girding the Grid
December 2022: Rifle fire damages two electrical substations in Moore County, North Carolina, cutting power to more than 40,000 customers. Neither the attackers nor their motive is identified. February 2023: A man and a woman—one an avowed neo-Nazi—are charged with conspiracy to take down Baltimore’s power grid through attacks on electrical substations, in an attempt to cause chaos in that Maryland city.
What the Israel-Hamas War Means for the US Energy Supply Chain
Hamas’s recent attack on Israel has escalated tension in the region to levels most of us haven’t seen in our lifetimes. This conflict already has resulted in thousands of Israeli and Palestinian casualties, but unlike wars of the past, today these battles are being fought in new ways. Concurrent with and in the days following the initial attacks on Oct.
Chinese-linked hackers target critical infrastructure in US and Guam
Microsoft and U.S. intelligence agencies said on Wednesday that they have discovered a stealthy Chinese-linked hacking group targeting critical infrastructure entities in the United States and Guam, an operation that researchers at Microsoft assess could lay the groundwork for disrupting communications between the United States and Asia in the event of a crisis.
The pressing threat of Chinese-made drones flying above U.S. critical infrastructure
Just look up on a clear day and there’s a good chance you’ll see one. Small and inexpensive drones have become omnipresent. While hobbyists use them for photography or racing, professionals now fly them to capture TV and film footage, conduct surveys or perform building inspections. While drones aren’t necessarily inherently dangerous or undesirable, the global market and supply chains that enable their production and sale are another story.
Post-pandemic realities: Safely and securely bringing sports back to America
Brian Harrell, assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security discusses the importance of stadium security and how the organization is working with stadium managers to provide risk mitigation in the wake of Covid-19 and beyond. America’s love for sports is unquestionable.
Homeland security official: Congress must act to secure chemical plants like those in Louisiana for the long term
At the beginning of this year, in a major win for U.S. national security, Congress sent H.R. 251, the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards Program Extension Act, to the president’s desk for signature. The bipartisan agreement provided the Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards program, or CFATS, with a 15-month extension and reaffirmed Congress’ support for this effective chemical regulatory program as a vital part of our nation’s counterterrorism efforts.
Changing the Physical Security Mindset: Perspective from the Power Industry
A dedication to continuous improvement is only one mark of a forward-thinking critical infrastructure security leader. The state of physical security in the power and utility industry is in an era of realization. Recent events, such as the PG&E Metcalf transmission substation shooting and the Entergy attempted train derailment using a transmission tower in Arkansas, have induced uncertainty and fear, not only in the power industry but also in the general public.
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