Director of presidential cyber commission named
Kiersten Todt has been appointed the executive director of the Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity, according to the Commerce Department.
Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker made the announcement Wednesday, designating Todt to work with commission chairman former national security adviser Tom Donilon and his deputy, former IBM CEO Sam Palmisano. The commission, created as part of President Barack Obama’s Cybersecurity National Action Plan, will provide recommendations aimed at the next administration in a report that is to be released later this year.
Todt had been serving as the managing partner of Liberty Group Ventures, where she developed risk and crisis management solutions. Prior to that, she was a partner at Good Harbor Consulting — the firm founded by cybersecurity veteran Richard Clarke — where she focused on their crisis management practice.
She has also spent time as a staff member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the White House, helping to craft the directorates that went into the Department of Homeland Security.
“With Kiersten’s proven expertise in risk management and leadership in public-private cybersecurity initiatives, I am confident that she will ably assist the Commission as it works toward bold advances in our nation’s cybersecurity,” Secretary Pritzker said in a release. “I look forward to working with Kiersten and the commission as they complete their inquiries and recommendations.”
Other commissioners are expected to be announced in the coming weeks. The report is scheduled to be released no later than Dec. 1.
