The news has been chock-full of cybersecurity hacks, attacks, and vulnerabilities. Between SolarWinds, Microsoft Exchange, and Facebook, it seems like there’s no end in sight. In the midst of this news cycle, we now have two nominations for senior cybersecurity positions in the federal government.
We learned Monday, April 12 that President Biden has nominated two former National Security Agency veterans for these positions: Jen Easterly, a former NSA official from the Obama administration, would head CISA (Cybersecurity & Infrastructure Security Agency). Easterly would be the first CISA leader since Chris Krebs, who was fired six months ago by then-President Trump.
President Biden also nominated Former NSA director John “Chris” Inglis for national cyber director. Unlike head of CISA, Inglis’ position is a relatively new one — Congress created it late last year to watch over defense and cybersecurity budgets of civilian agencies.
While Easterly will need to be approved by the Senate, Inglis will not. In any case, it is great news to see any federal cybersecurity developments.
