Fairfax County CISO Michael T. Dent reveals how Virginia’ s largest local government tackles emerging threats with enterprise-wide risk management
FAIRFAX COUNTY VIRGINIA
Fairfax County CISO Michael T. Dent reveals how Virginia’ s largest local government tackles emerging threats with enterprise-wide risk management
Michael T. Dent, Chief Information Security Officer( CISO) at Fairfax County Government in Virginia, has recently completed a significant transition.
As of August 2025, he moved into a new role as Strategic Liaison to the CIO and CISO as part of a planned leadership succession, passing the CISO responsibilities to Charles Gore.
The transition comes after 23 years with Fairfax County, following his military service. This extensive tenure has shaped his approach to cybersecurity leadership in one of America’ s largest local governments.
“ My military background instilled a mindset of discipline, accountability and mission-first leadership, values that I’ ve carried into my work in public sector cybersecurity,” he says.
His approach to cybersecurity emphasises integration rather than isolation. Cybersecurity is embedded in everything from budgeting to public-facing services, with accountability extending to executive level leadership.
“ No security programme succeeds if it operates in a silo or if exceptions are made for VIPs,” Michael explains.“ You have to be resourceful, collaborative and able to explain cyber risk in plain terms, because at the end of the day, you’ re securing not just infrastructure, but democracy at the local level.”
This philosophy has guided the development of Fairfax County’ s comprehensive cybersecurity framework.
4 fairfaxcounty. gov