Bush cyber chief’s salary in question

WASHINGTON – The Bush administration’s cybersecurity chief is a contract employee earning $577,602 over two years under an agreement with a private university that does extensive business with the federal office he manages.

Donald “Andy” Purdy Jr. has been acting director of the Homeland Security Department’s National Cyber Security Division for 21 months. His contract with Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh has drawn attention from members of Congress. By comparison, the Homeland Security secretary, Michael Chertoff, makes $175,000 annually.

Purdy is on loan from the school to the government. Meanwhile, Purdy’s cybersecurity division has paid Carnegie Mellon $19 million in contracts this year, almost one-fifth of the unit’s total budget.

Purdy is a longtime lawyer who has held a number of state and federal legal and managerial jobs. He has no formal technical background in computer security.

Purdy said he has not been involved in discussions over his office’s business deals with the school.

Some lawmakers who oversee the department questioned the decision to hire Purdy as acting cybersecurity director.

Purdy’s contract “raises questions about whether the American people are getting their money’s worth,” Democratic Reps. Bennie Thompson of Mississippi and Loretta Sanchez and Zoe Lofgren, both of California, wrote in a letter to Republicans.

His two-year contract expires in October. He said it could be extended two more years. Under the contract, the government pays Purdy $245,481 in salary and benefits a year; Carnegie Mellon pays $43,320 a year. The Associated Press obtained a copy of Purdy’s contract.