‘Huge Step Forward:’ Biden Taps First National Cyber Lead

WASHINGTON: The Biden administration today announced its intent to nominate John Chris Inglis as America’s first national cybersecurity director and Jen Easterly to lead the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Inglis is a former deputy director at the National Security Agency. He is expected to be confirmed by Congress. In the newly created position, he will join the White House’s current cybersecurity team, which includes NSA veteran Anne Neuberger, the first deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology.

The national cybersecurity director position was recommended by the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and created by the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, which became law on Jan. 1. The administration’s delay in nominating someone for the position has created tension between the White House and Congress in recent months.

“We created the National Cyber Director position in last year’s National Defense Authorization Act to better coordinate cybersecurity efforts across the entire federal government,” Sen. Jim Inhofe, ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, said in a statement issued today. “As we’ve seen in the aftermath of the SolarWinds and Microsoft cyber hacks, there’s no shortage of work to be done. I appreciate that President Biden also recognized the importance of this role and nominated Chris Inglis for the job. I look forward to considering this nominee in the coming weeks.”

Easterly, another former NSA official who helped to create US Cyber Command, is also expected to be confirmed by Congress. Easterly will take over the Department of Homeland Security’s agency that is charged with cyber defense of the nation’s non-military domestic networks.

“The President has assembled an incredibly powerful cyber team, with some of the best in the country. A huge step forward for American cybersecurity,” James Lewis, senior vice president and top cyber expert at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, told Breaking Defense.

The Biden administration also announced today its intent to nominate several key appointments to DHS, including John Tien as deputy secretary. Tien previously served in the Obama administration as the National Security Council Senior Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan from 2009-2011.

The news of two nominations for key cybersecurity positions comes as the US has recently grappled with containing and is said to be currently formulating a response to two major cyber campaigns: the so-called SolarWinds breach and the widespread exploitation of four zero-day vulnerabilities in Microsoft Exchange servers. The former has impacted at least nine federal agencies and no fewer than 17,000 businesses, and the latter has impacted tens of thousands of organizations domestically.

Russia is believed to be behind the SolarWinds campaign, while China is thought to be the original threat actor in the Exchange campaign. This US government has not officially attributed either cyber campaign.

The administration is said to be working on a multipronged response to the SolarWinds campaign that will likely include a cybersecurity executive order, economic sanctions, and what National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan characterized as “tools seen and unseen.”