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Director of Information Security Engineering leaves Google as industry-wide privacy concerns grow

Google has lost a member of its Information Security team. These past few weeks have been a tumultuous time in terms of Information Security, with recent allegations against Facebook including the Cambridge Analytica scandal, but it’s unclear the reasoning behind his departure.

Update: Google has reached out to clarify that there are multiple Directors of Information Security Engineering at Google, and that the team is lead by Gerhard Eschelbeck.

Michał Zalewski, Director of Information Security Engineering at Google, announced yesterday, via Twitter, that he is leaving the company after almost 11 years. No reason was given for why he decided to quit.

The timing might make people think that it may be related to recent scandals across the Information Security world. A reply chain on his original tweet indicates otherwise. One person replied to Michał’s tweet joking that “there is a CISO position to fill at facebook I hear.” Michał replied in kind “waiting for NYTimes to tell me why I am leaving Google first.”

This conversation shows that Michał is well aware of how the timing of this move looks to the outside world, and might be an indicator that this career change has been a long time in the making. Ten years is a long time at one job position; perhaps he was just looking for a change.

Michał is the author of well-known web application security book, The Tangled Web, and Google’s own Browser Security Handbook. He also has an international reputation for his cutting edge research. Surely he will find himself in good hands in his next position, and we wish him the best of luck.


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Avatar for Kyle Bradshaw Kyle Bradshaw

Kyle is an author and researcher for 9to5Google, with special interests in Made by Google products, Fuchsia, and uncovering new features.

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