Harry Coker, a former senior executive at the CIA and the National Security Agency, has received confirmation from the Senate to serve as the nation’s second permanent national cyber director.
He will lead the Office of the National Cyber Director and advise the president on developing policies and strategies for strengthening the U.S. cybersecurity defense posture, the White House said Tuesday.
“His four decades of experience in the public and private sector will further ONCD’s success. We look forward to his leadership advancing the work underway to implement President Biden’s National Cybersecurity Strategy,” said Drenan Dudley, who took over the role of acting national cyber director from Kemba Walden in November.
Once sworn in, Coker will succeed Chris Inglis, the first national cyber director who stepped down in March after almost two years in the position.
Coker, a senior fellow at Auburn University’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security, previously served as NSA executive director and open source enterprise director at the CIA’s directorate of digital innovation.
He served 20 years in the U.S. Navy as a surface warfare officer and an engineering duty officer.
