Ahead of its first meeting next week, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) on Wednesday announce the first 23 members of a new Cybersecurity Advisory Committee, a mix of private sector, legal, local government, and policy experts that will help provide advice and recommendations to the agency on various matters.
“We’re at a pivotal moment in our history, one that demands we think anew about ensuring the security and resilience of our digital infrastructure in the face of increasingly sophisticated cyber threats,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement. “I look forward to partnering with these distinguished leaders from across industry, academia, and government to tackle some of the most pressing issues of our time.”
Easterly has asked Chris Inglis, the National Cyber Director, to help in establishing the committee and setting its priorities.
The first meeting will be on Dec. 10 and members will discuss their scope of work and develop a plan for examining key issues. The meeting will include a kickoff address by Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and remarks by Inglis.
Easterly will discuss issue tasking and there will also be a CISA Cybersecurity Division mission brief by Eric Goldstein, executive assistant director for cybersecurity, an overview of systemic risk and national critical functions by Robert Kolasky, the assistant director of the National Risk Management Center, and remarks by CISA Deputy Director Nitin Natarajan on the new Cyber Talent Management System.
Some of the 23 members include Austin, Texas Mayor Steve Adler, Lori Beer, chief information officer of JPMorgan Chase [JPM], Thomas Fanning, chairman, president and CEO of Southern Company [SO], Vijaya Gadde, legal, public policy & trust and safety lead at Twitter [TWTR], Patrick Gallagher, chancellor of the Univ. of Pittsburgh, Kevin Mandia, CEO of Mandiant [MNDT], Nuala O’Connor, senior vice president and chief counsel, digital citizenship for Walmart [WMT], Nicole Perlroth, a cybersecurity reporter for the New York Times [NYT], Suzanne Spaulding, a homeland security expert with the Center for Strategic and International Studies and the former chief of the predecessor agency to CISA within the Department of Homeland Security, Alex Stamos, who is a partner with former CISA Director Chris Krebs in the Krebs Stamos Group, Alicia Tate-Nadeau, a retired Brigadier General in the Army National Guard and current director of the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, and Chris Young, executive vice president of business development, strategy and ventures with Microsoft [MSFT].
The committee’s charter calls for 35 members.