Former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Chris Krebs testifies before a Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing to examine claims of voter irregularities in the 2020 election, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, in Washington, U.S., December 16, 2020.
Jim Lo Scalzo | Reuters
A week ago, President Donald Trump signed an executive order targeting former Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Chief Chris Krebs, and calling on the government to suspend the security clearances of any entities with whom he’s associated. The order specifically named SentinelOne, Krebs’ employer.
On Wednesday, Krebs announced his resignation from SentinelOne, a cybersecurity company with a $5.6 billion market cap. While Krebs said the choice was his alone, his swift departure is the latest example of the effect Trump is having on the private sector when it comes to pressuring people and institutions that he personally dislikes.
Krebs had served as SentinelOne’s chief intelligence and public policy officer since late 2023, when the company acquired his consulting firm.
“For those who know me, you know I don’t shy away from tough fights,” Krebs wrote in an email to SentinelOne staffers that the company posted on its website. “But I also know this is one I need to take on fully — outside of SentinelOne. This will require my complete focus and energy. It’s a fight for democracy, for freedom of speech, and for the rule of law. I’m prepared to give it everything I’ve got.”
Krebs served as the first CISA director from 2018 until he was fired in November 2020 after declaring that the presidential election, which Democrat Joe Biden won, was “the most secure in American history.” CISA is part of the Department of Homeland Security.
In his executive order on April 9, which took the extraordinary approach of going after a specific individual, Trump called Krebs a “bad-faith actor who weaponized and abused his Government authority.”
“Krebs’ misconduct involved the censorship of disfavored speech implicating the 2020 election and COVID-19 pandemic,” the order said. “Krebs, through CISA, falsely and baselessly denied that the 2020 election was rigged and stolen, including by inappropriately and categorically dismissing widespread election malfeasance and serious vulnerabilities with voting machines.”
Trump directed the attorney general, director of national intelligence and “all other relevant agencies” to suspend “any active security clearances held by individuals at entities associated with Krebs, including SentinelOne, pending a review of whether such clearances are consistent with the national interest.”
The Wall Street Journal was first to report on Krebs’ departure from SentinelOne, publishing a story on Wednesday based on an interview with Krebs. He told the Journal that he was leaving to push back on Trump’s efforts “to go after corporate interests and corporate relationships.”
The demands on SentinelOne resemble campaigns that President Trump has waged against law firms and universities that he’s tried to strongarm into making significant changes in how they operate or else lose government contracts or funding.
SentinelOne, which uses artificial intelligence to detect threat and prevent cyberattacks, doesn’t disclose how much of its revenue comes from the government. But the company acknowledges in the risk factors section of its financial reports that it relies on government agencies for some of its business and can be hurt by changes in policy.
“Our future growth depends, in part, on increasing sales to government organizations,” the latest quarterly filing says. Specific to Trump, SentinelOne said that the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency, which Elon Musk is running, could lead to budgetary changes that “adversely affect the funding for and purchases of our platform by government organizations.”
SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten told employees in a memo, also posted to the company’s site on Wednesday, that Krebs “helped shape important conversations and strengthened public-private collaboration.” The company previously said, in a blog post after the executive order, that fewer than 10 employees had security clearances.
“Accordingly, we do not expect this to materially impact our business in any way,” the post said.
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