Harry Coker confirmed to be the next National Cyber Director

The former National Security Agency executive director will oversee federal cyber policy as the first Senate-confirmed NCD in 10 months.

Harry Coker is the nation’s newest national cyber director, following a Senate confirmation vote Tuesday.

Coker will soon take on the role as the next “coach” to oversee and coordinate cybersecurity policy across the federal government. The Senate passed his nomination by a 59-40 vote. Coker, most recently the executive director at the National Security Agency, continues the trend of NSA alums serving as the nation’s top cybersecurity official.

The Office of the National Cyber Director has gone without a Senate-confirmed director for 10 months following the resignation of the inaugural director Chris Inglis in late February. Kemba Walden took the mantle as acting director until November, when Drenan Dudley assumed the role during the transition.

Coker spent 17 years at the CIA in various leadership positions, including the directorate of digital innovation, directorate of science and technology, and the director’s area, according to a bio at Auburn University’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security, where he is also a senior fellow.

During his nomination testimony, Coker expressed his appreciation for the existing work ONCD has laid out in its strategy, implementation plan and national cyber workforce and education strategy. Coker told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee that he would, “frankly, continue the good work that ONCD has done with its partners.”

That work includes a long to-do list for Coker right off the bat. The ONCD released an implementation guide that serves as the North star for U.S. cybersecurity policy and includes more than 65 initiatives to carry out the national cybersecurity strategy. The breadth of topics covers everything from critical infrastructure regulations to cyber diplomacy to workforce issues, and is considered a “living document” that is expected to be updated next year.

Coker is also stepping into a crowded ring amid reports of friction among the top echelon of cybersecurity officials. Inglis reportedly left the office shortly before the national cyber strategy was released due to the tense relationship and seemingly overlapping authorities with Anne Neuberger, the deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology, who has has the more direct line to the Oval Office, and Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which is more of an operational role.

The NCD position was first recommended by the congressionally mandated Cyberspace Solarium Commission to lead the nation’s cybersecurity policy as cybersecurity crosses multiple domains and agencies. 

While Coker did receive approval from cyber-focused lawmakers, Walden was thought by many to be the natural replacement for Inglis. However, the administration decided not to nominate Walden because of her personal debt, according to reports from the Washington Post, a motive that many experts doubted. 

‘Watershed 250’ test program in Texas looks to private sector for water cybersecurity help

The six-month program will be overseen by the Office of the National Cyber Director and Texas Cyber Command to “find out what works.”

National cyber director lays out White House plans to secure AI without writing new rules

Most federal cybersecurity reporting rules are duplicative, study finds

Government

• FBI officials say AI is bolstering adversaries, emphasizing need to focus on cyber basics, patching

• Feds accuse China of ‘systematic’ distillation of U.S. AI models

• CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates

• The G7 tells industry to hurry up and prep for post-quantum encryption

Technology

• European parliament members call for slowdown of Serbia’s EU entry over spyware use

• FCC proposes public scorecard to rate telecoms on anti-robocall efforts

• Pegasus, NoviSpy variant spyware found on devices of Serbian activists

• The Collective Cyber Defense letter wrote your next vendor questionnaire

Threats

• Chinese espionage groups swarm to exploit triple-link chain of zero-days

• Microsoft discloses two actively exploited zero-days among 974 vulnerabilities

• Russian national extradited to US for alleged involvement in bank-account takeover scheme

• Attackers exploit zero-days in consistently besieged SonicWall product

Policy

• Whistleblower says USPS deploying new, ‘untested’ IT systems governing mail-in ballots

• Former sexual abuse victims say Grok used their images, videos to train deepfake capabilities

• Cyber threats nudge Trump to sign executive order on foreign equipment in U.S. energy infrastructure

• Election official says Tina Peters would be consultant, won’t have access to election systems