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Cybersecurity Transition: House Bill 150 (89R) transferred Department of Information Resource's (DIR's) cybersecurity functions to the Texas Cyber Command (TXCC). Learn more
About the agency

A new state agency, built for a connected age

Established by House Bill 150 in 2025, the Texas Cyber Command consolidates state cybersecurity functions into a single, focused authority with the mandate to defend Texas's people, government, and critical infrastructure.

Authority

Established by law

The Texas Cyber Command was formally established by the 89th Texas Legislature through House Bill 150, codified in Chapter 2063 of the Texas Government Code. Its mission is to prevent and respond to cybersecurity incidents that affect state governmental entities and critical infrastructure in Texas.

TXCC is a state agency governed by a Chief, who is appointed by the Governor and confirmed by the Senate. Under the Chief’s direction, the Command leads and coordinates the statewide cybersecurity program: the policies, standards, services, architecture, and resources that together establish the cybersecurity function for Texas. Headquartered in San Antonio, the agency is building the people, processes, partnerships, and technologies needed to protect essential public services and strengthen the state’s ability to anticipate and withstand evolving threats.

Under Chapter 2063, the Command’s core responsibilities include:

  • Providing leadership, guidance, and tools to strengthen cybersecurity defenses statewide
  • Facilitating the education and training of a skilled cybersecurity workforce
  • Coordinating cyber threat intelligence to detect and warn of attacks, and conducting digital forensics to support law enforcement
  • Creating the partnerships needed to carry out the Command’s functions
  • Receiving all cybersecurity incident reports from state agencies and covered entities
Our vision

From reactive to proactive

TXCC’s vision is a Texas that is secure in cyberspace, protected by a trained, ready, and proactive cybersecurity workforce, and strengthened by advanced, resilient capabilities.

For this planning period, the Command’s strategic direction is to shift the state’s cyber posture from primarily reactive incident response toward proactive prevention, enhanced readiness, and increased resilience. It prioritizes integrated intelligence, early risk identification, scalable standards and services, threat-informed protective action, exercises, and workforce development: the work that helps stop incidents before they disrupt Texans, public services, or critical infrastructure.

That posture rests on a functional mission design consisting of a Cybersecurity Threat Intelligence Center (CTIC), an Information Sharing and Analysis Organization (ISAO), and a Unified Cyber Task Force (UCTF), operating across six operational terrains. Intelligence about who is targeting Texas and their methods of attack drive daily decisions to secure, protect, and defend the state’s networks. Those insights are shared through the ISAO, so partners and teammates can act on them, too.

By Fiscal Year 2031, the Command aims to make Texas a national model for cyber readiness and resilience, able to prevent avoidable incidents, detect threats earlier, respond faster, and restore essential public services with confidence.

What we protect

Six operational terrains

The Command carries out its mission across six operational cyberspace terrains: the institutions, systems, and data that make up Texas’s digital landscape.

01
State government

Executive-branch agencies, departments, boards, and offices created by the Texas Constitution or by statute.

02
Higher education

The state’s university systems and institutions of higher education.

03
Law enforcement & judiciary

The courts and agencies of the judicial branch, from the Supreme Court to the district courts.

04
Covered entities

Private critical-infrastructure operators and local governments that contract with TXCC for cybersecurity services.

05
Critical infrastructure

The systems vital to the state’s security, public health and safety, economy, and governance.

06
Texas data

The information held by all of the entities above.

Leadership

Chief of the Command

Chief, Texas Cyber Command

Vice Admiral (Ret.) Timothy “TJ” White

37 years, United States Navy

Appointed by Governor Greg Abbott on September 16, 2025, Vice Admiral (Ret.) Timothy “TJ” White serves as the inaugural Chief of the Texas Cyber Command. In this role, he leads Texas’s first agency solely dedicated to safeguarding the state from malicious foreign cyber actors targeting government entities and critical infrastructure.

Chief White joined the Navy in 1983 and was honorably discharged after 37 years of service in 2020. During his Navy career, he served as Commander of U.S. Fleet Cyber Command, U.S. Tenth Fleet, U.S. Navy Space Command, and Joint Force Headquarters Cyber (Navy), and as Commander of the U.S. Cyber National Mission Force at U.S. Cyber Command. He previously served as Director of Intelligence for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command.

Following his military service, he founded OneNetworkConnection, LLC, a strategic advisory firm focused on national security, cybersecurity, full-spectrum cyber operations, space, intelligence, and joint military operations. He has also served as a Professor of Practice at the Naval Postgraduate School.

A native of Spring, Texas, Chief White holds a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the United States Naval Academy, a Master of Science in Systems Technology from the Naval Postgraduate School, and a Master of Science in Strategic Resource Management from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at National Defense University. He chairs the board of advisors of the Military Cyber Professionals Association and previously served as Vice Chair of the University of Texas at San Antonio National Security Collaboration Center.

Stand-up timeline

Building the Command

The Texas Cyber Command is being built in phases. This timeline reflects the major milestones from the agency's establishment through its full operational capability.

  1. June 2, 2025

    House Bill 150 signed into law

    Governor Greg Abbott signs HB 150 at the University of Texas at San Antonio, formally establishing the Texas Cyber Command.

  2. September 16, 2025

    Inaugural Chief appointed

    Vice Admiral (Ret.) Timothy "TJ" White is appointed as the first Chief of the Texas Cyber Command by Governor Abbott.

  3. 2025–2026

    Standing up the Command

    The Command is operating from its headquarters in San Antonio and building out its three operational components: the Cybersecurity Threat Intelligence Center, the Texas ISAO, and the Unified Cyber Task Force. Capabilities, partnerships, and workforce are being developed in phases.

  4. By December 31, 2026

    Transition from DIR complete

    All cybersecurity functions previously performed by the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR) transfer to the Texas Cyber Command, as mandated by HB 150.

Shared Alliance

A federation of partners

The Texas Cyber Command operates through partnerships with federal, state, and local agencies, academic institutions, and industry. San Antonio's deep cybersecurity ecosystem provides the foundation for collaboration.

  • University of Texas at San Antonio
  • National Security Agency
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • U.S. Secret Service
  • U.S. Department of Homeland Security
  • Sixteenth Air Force (Joint Base San Antonio)
  • U.S. Army Cyber Command
  • Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR)
  • Texas Department of Public Safety
  • Texas Division of Emergency Management
  • Texas Military Department
  • Southwest Texas Fusion Center
Additional resources

More on Texas Cyber Command