Cybersecurity Leadership Shake-Up: Florida’s Top Official Steps Down

At a glance

• Who is leaving: Jeremy Rodgers, Florida’s chief information security officer at the Florida Digital Service, is stepping down to join the private sector.
• When he started: Rodgers joined the Florida Digital Service on Jan. 5, 2022.
• What the office covers: The state CISO leads security strategy for Florida government agencies and supports local government partners.
• His background: A longtime U.S. Navy officer and former IBM security architect, Rodgers also served as deputy mayor of Boca Raton.

Florida’s top security official is moving on

Florida is losing its chief information security officer. Jeremy Rodgers, who has led security at the Florida Digital Service, is leaving state government for a job in the private sector, a Florida Department of Management Services spokesperson confirmed to Industry Insider — Florida in May 2025.

The departure

Rodgers joined the Florida Digital Service on Jan. 5, 2022. In just over three years as state CISO, he oversaw security for state agencies through a period of steady attacks on government systems, from ransomware at county offices to phishing aimed at state employees.

The Florida Digital Service sits within the Department of Management Services, which oversees much of the state’s information technology. His exit leaves a gap at the top of the state’s security program until a successor is named.

What the job involves

The state CISO leads statewide security strategy and works with agency and local government partners on threat detection, incident response and security operations. It is a big job. Attacks on state and municipal systems have kept rising, and the person in the role is also the one who has to brief state leaders when things go wrong.

Whoever takes over will inherit that work, along with the job of keeping Florida’s agencies and local partners pointed in the same direction.

Statewide programs

The Florida Digital Service runs the state’s enterprise cybersecurity program. That includes security operations for agencies, incident response support and partnerships with local governments.

Much of that work protects services residents depend on directly, like water systems and emergency services. Small towns lean on it most.

Rodgers’ background

Rodgers came to the job with a long military and technical career. He served in the U.S. Navy as a commanding officer, cyber team lead and information warfare officer. In the private sector he worked at IBM, including as a federal and public security architect.

He also served as deputy mayor of Boca Raton from 2015 to 2021, and he holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Florida Atlantic University while working toward a doctorate in computer engineering.

What comes next for Florida

Rodgers’ exit is a real transition for Florida’s security leadership. The next state CISO will take over a program that supports dozens of agencies and many local governments, at a time when attacks on public systems show no sign of slowing.

Naming a successor quickly matters. Security programs drift without steady leadership.

Frank Jones, CISSP

Frank Jones has loved computers from the age of 13. Frank got his hacking career started when he downloaded a war dialing program that he used to detect dial up modems in his hometown of Chicago. Frank Jones now works as a JAVA coder and cyber security researcher.