Chris Inglis, the top cybersecurity official in the White House and first person to serve as the national cyber director, plans to retire in early 2023, CNN reported on Wednesday.
President Joe Biden nominated Inglis to lead the White House’s cybersecurity team in April 2021 and Inglis was confirmedJune 2021. The Office of the National Cyber Director was established by the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021.
Kembea Eneas Walden, a former Microsoft executive who joined the National Cyber Director’s office in May, is expected to serve as acting director once Inglis steps down, according to CNN. Walden is the principal deputy national cyber director and a member of the Cyber Safety Review Board.
Inglis, the former deputy director of the National Security Agency, has served in various roles at the NSA for almost 30 years.
When reached by CNN, Inglis declined to comment further on his plans but said his goal was to get the new White House office up and running before handing it over to a new leader. The White House did not respond to a request for comment before press time.
During a keynote address at the RSA Conference in May, Inglis highlighted the government’s efforts to combine the insights and capabilities of all federal agencies to provide relevant, actionable and timely information.
Federal agencies and cyber defenders need to “crowdsource [transgressors] the way they’ve crowdsourced us,” Inglis said.
