A former executive at the National Security Agency was nominated by President Joe Biden on Tuesday to become the second national cyber director.
(Bloomberg) — A former executive at the National Security Agency was nominated by President Joe Biden on Tuesday to become the second national cyber director.
Harry Coker Jr., who also spent more than a decade at the Central Intelligence Agency, would succeed Chris Inglis, who retired earlier this year.
The national cyber director’s office was created by Congress to serve as the principal adviser to the president on cybersecurity policy and strategy. Some have worried, though, that the office conflicts with other existing cybersecurity posts at the White House. Inglis ended up resigning after repeated clashes with Anne Neuberger, deputy national security adviser for cyber and emerging technology.
Kemba Walden, a former Microsoft Corp. lawyer who had served as acting national cyber director, withdrew her nomination after being told that she wouldn’t be considered for a permanent role because of personal debt issues, the Washington Post reported.
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Coker served as executive director of the NSA from 2017 to 2019. Born and raised in Parsons, Kansas, Coke served in the Navy for 20 years, according to a White House statement. He graduated from the US Naval Academy and currently serves as a senior fellow at Auburn University’s McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security.
If nominated, Coker would be the latest former NSA official to be named to a top cyber post in the Biden administration. Both Neuberger and Inglis served in the NSA, as did Jen Easterly, the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.
(Updates with additional information in fifth paragraph. A previous version of this story corrected the description of Walden’s withdrawn nomination.)
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