Biden makes nominations for top cyber posts

By Nandita Bose and Christopher Bing

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. President Joe Biden is nominating Chris Inglis to be the National Cyber Director and Jen Easterly to be director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the White House said on Monday.

"We are determined to protect America’s networks and to meet the growing challenge posed by our adversaries in cyberspace – and this is the team to do it," White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said in a statement.

The U.S. government is engaged in a sweeping cyberattack response effort following a December disclosure that nine federal agencies were hacked by a Russian spy group, according to U.S. officials.

Easterly and Inglis are experienced cybersecurity experts with decades of service in government. Both previously worked at the National Security Agency in senior positions.

Several of Biden's top cybersecurity leaders now hail from Fort Meade, Maryland, where the signals intelligence agency is headquartered.

The White House already had named Anne Neuberger, former NSA director of cybersecurity, and Michael Sulmeyer, a senior adviser to NSA Director General Paul Nakasone, to the National Security Council.

"I am looking forward to working with Chris and Jen to continue building back better to modernize our cyber defenses and enhance the nation’s ability to prevent and respond effectively to cybersecurity incidents," Neuberger said in a statement.

(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Christopher Bing; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Franklin Paul and Howard Goller)

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