CISA Announces New Chief of Staff

The United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has appointed Kiersten Todt as its new chief of staff. 

In her new role, cybersecurity veteran Todt will be tasked with allocating resources, planning, and supporting CISA’s goals through the creation of long-term objectives. 

CISA director Jen Easterly, in an announcement earlier today, described Todt as “extraordinarily well-qualified for this critical role.”

Easterly added: “I am particularly excited to be able to draw upon Kiersten’s leadership ability and her deep partnerships with industry, to include the small business community – a key element of our nation’s economy.”

Todt is the managing director of the Cyber Readiness Institute (CRI), a non-profit initiative that she co-founded in July 2017. Previously, Todt served as executive director for the Presidential Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity under President Barack Obama. 

CRI’s mission is to bring together the expertise of senior executive leaders at global companies to develop free resources to improve the cyber-readiness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) so as to secure global value chains.

With Todt at the helm, the CRI’s membership has grown to include Apple, Microsoft, ExxonMobil, General Motors, MasterCard, PSP Partners, Principal Financial Group, and the Center for Global Enterprise. 

The search for a new managing director to lead the CRI is being undertaken by the president of the Center for Global Enterprise, Chris Caine. 

In a statement released today, the CRI said: “Under Todt’s leadership, CRI has focused on the central role of human behavior in cybersecurity and developing practical resources organizations can use to create a culture of cyber-readiness.”

In its first four years of existence, the CRI’s Champion Network has expanded to include almost 90 organizations representing more than two million SMEs around the globe. 

“We are grateful for Kiersten’s leadership. Her stewardship enabled CRI to go from an idea to a global organization that will forever leave an imprint by making cybersecurity part of the cultural DNA of every small business,” said Sam Palmisano, co-chair of CRI and chairman of the Center for Global Enterprise. 

“We look forward to continuing the great work that Kiersten began four years ago.”