As the United States gears up for another Presidential election, government agencies face a daunting challenge that extends far beyond the ballot box. While elections signify the democratic process at work, they also represent one of the largest predictable instances of high employee turnover in the public sector. This mass transition of power and personnel creates a perfect storm for potential data breaches, threatening the integrity of sensitive government information and national security.

For Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) and IT leaders in government agencies, the approaching elections should trigger enhanced IP protections. The shift in administration is not just a change in leadership, it's a massive data security risk that demands immediate attention and action. The scale of this turnover can be hard to fathom. When a new administration takes office, thousands of positions change hands, from cabinet members to staff across dozens of agencies.

As Michael Lewis writes in The Fifth Risk:

"The United States government might be the most complicated organization on the face of the earth. Its two million federal employees take orders from four thousand political appointees. Dysfunction is baked into the structure of the thing: the subordinates know that their bosses will be replaced every four or eight years and that the direction of their enterprises might change overnight -- with an election or a war or some other political event."

Each departing employee represents a potential escape vector for data, whether intentional or accidental. The motivations for mishandling data during these transitions can vary widely, from personal gain and political leverage to simple negligence.