President Joe Biden hires a group of national security veterans with extensive cyber experience, who receive praise from former defense officials and investigators as the U.S. government works to recover from one of its biggest attacks. agencies attributed to Russian spies.
“It’s great to see the priority the new administration gives to cybernetics,” said Suzanne Spaulding, director of the Democratic Institutions ’Defending Democratic Institutions project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Cybersecurity was degraded as a political field under the administration of former U.S. President Donald Trump. He suspended the position of cybersecurity coordinator in the White House, reduced the State Department’s cyber diplomacy wing, and fired federal cybersecurity leader Chris Krebs after Trump’s November 3 election defeat.
Disclosed in December, the hack attacked eight federal agencies and numerous companies, including software provider SolarWinds Corp. U.S. intelligence agencies have publicly attributed it to Russian state actors. Moscow has denied involvement in the hack.
Under a recent law, Biden should open a cyber office that would report to a new national cyber director, who will coordinate the federal government’s vast cyber capabilities, said Mark Montgomery, a former congressman who helped design the role.
According to four people familiar with the selection process, the main candidate for cyber leadership is Jen Easterly, a former senior official with the National Security Agency.
A poster showing six wanted Russian military intelligence officers is shown ahead of a press conference at the U.S. Department of Justice on October 19, 2020 in Washington [File: Andrew Harnik/ Pool via AP]
Now head of Morgan Stanley resilience, Easterly held various intelligence positions in the administration of President Barack Obama and helped create the United States Cyber Command, the country’s leading cyber warfare unit.
The Biden administration “has appointed world-class cybersecurity experts for leadership positions,” Microsoft Vice President Tom Burt said in a statement.
Some observers worry, however, that the collective group’s experience is almost entirely in the public sector, said a former government official and industry analyst who requested anonymity. The distinction is important because the vast majority of U.S. Internet infrastructure is owned and operated by U.S. corporations.
“Finding a good balance with business and government experience will be critical to success,” said Amit Yoran, the former director of cybersecurity at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and now chief executive of the company. Security Inc.
To replace Krebs at DHS, Biden plans to appoint Rob Silvers, who also worked for the Obama administration, to become director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency, according to four people on the issue.
Amit Yoran testifies at Washington’s Capitol Hill in front of a hearing by the House Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on Deciphering the Encryption Debate [File: Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP Photo]
The Biden National Security Council (NSC), a White House arm that guides an administration’s security priorities, includes five officials with experience in cybersecurity.
At the helm of recruitment is Anne Neuberger, a senior National Security Agency official as deputy national security adviser on cyber and emerging technology, a new position designed to raise the issue internally.
“The United States remains highly prepared for 21st century security threats,” said Philip Reiner, executive director of the Institute for Security and Technology. “The establishment and prioritization of a DNSA for cyber and emerging technology at the NSC indicates the seriousness that the Biden administration will be allowed to meet these challenges.”
Neuberger became one of the most visible figures in the NSA in recent years after leading the cyber defense wing of the spy agency, praising him for quickly alerting companies to the hacking techniques they were doing. serve other countries.
The other four contracts are Michael Sulmeyer as senior director of cybernetics, Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall as national security adviser, Russ Travers as deputy national security adviser, and Caitlin Durkovich as senior director of resistance and response at the NSC.
All four had previously held national security positions dealing with cybersecurity.