The Future of Cyber Starts Here.

Where leaders with government and industry experience engage on next-gen cyber

2024 CIG Summit Dates
Spring Summit: 20 March 2024 12p-4p EST
Summer Summit: 12 June 2024 12p-4p EST
Fall Summit: 18 Sep 2024 12p-4p EST
Winter Summit: 11 Dec 2024, 12p-4p EST

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OUR MISSION

What is the Cyber Initiatives Group (CIG)?

The Cipher Brief’s Cyber Initiatives Group (CIG) is changing the way we collaborate when it comes to cybersecurity by convening high-caliber, productive engagements for a discerning public-private cyber community. The CIG is co-chaired by a group of CIG Principals with deep public and private sector experience, who meet four times a year to help set the agenda for CIG Virtual Summits.

PRINCIPALS COMMITTEE

Our principals are esteemed in their fields of national security, cyber, technology, and more.

ABOUT US

General Michael Hayden (Ret.)

Former CIA Director / Former NSA Director

General Michael Hayden is a retired four-star general who served as director of both the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency. General Hayden also served as the country’s first principal deputy director of national intelligence and the highest-ranking military intelligence officer in the country. Hayden previously served as commander of the Air Intelligence Agency and Director of the Joint Command and Control Warfare Center and served in senior staff positions at the Pentagon, U.S. European Command, and the National Security Council.

General Keith Alexander (Ret.)

Former Director of NSA

General (Ret.) Keith Alexander is the CEO and President of IronNet Cybersecurity. He served as the director of the National Security Agency and Chief of the Central Security Service from 2005-2014. He was also the first Commander of the U.S. Cyber Command. Prior to those roles, General Alexander served as the Deputy Chief of Staff, Intelligence, Department of the Army and Commanding General of the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command.

The Hon. Susan Gordon

Partner, Gordon Ventures / Former PDDNI, ODNI

The Honorable Susan M. Gordon is former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence (PDDNI). Prior to ODNI, Gordon served in multiple leadership roles in the IC including as Deputy Director of the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) and 27 years at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where she held senior executive positions in four of the Agency’s directorates. In 1998, she designed and drove the formation of In-Q-Tel, a private, non-profit company created to deliver innovative technology solutions for the agency and the IC.

Rear Admiral Mark Montgomery (Ret.)

Former Executive Director, U.S. Cyberspace Solarium Commission

Mark Montgomery formerly served as the Executive Director of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Before this position, he served as Policy Director for the Senate Armed Services Committee under the leadership of Senator John S. McCain. In this position he coordinated policy efforts on national defense strategy, capabilities and requirements, defense policy and cyber issues. Mark served for 32 years in the U.S. Navy as a nuclear trained surface warfare officer, retiring as a Rear Admiral in 2017. His flag officer assignments included Director of Operations (J3) at U. S. Pacific Command; Commander of Carrier Strike Group 5 embarked on the USS George Washington stationed in Japan; and Deputy Director, Plans, Policy and Strategy (J5), at U. S. European Command. He was selected as a White House Fellow and assigned to the National Security Council, serving as Director for Transnational Threats from 1998-2000. Mark graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history. He subsequently earned a master’s degree in history from Oxford University, and completed the U.S. Navy’s nuclear power training program.

General David Petraeus (Ret.)

Chairman of KKR Global Institute / Former CIA Director

General David H. Petraeus (US Army, Ret.) is a Partner and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, which he established in May 2013. He is a member of the boards of directors of Optiv and FirstStream, a venture investor in some 20 startups, and engaged in a variety of academic endeavors. Prior to joining KKR, General Petraeus served over 37 years in the U.S. military, including six consecutive commands, five of which were in combat, including command of the Surge in Iraq, command of U.S. Central Command, and command of coalition forces in Afghanistan.

General Frank McKenzie (Ret.)

Former Commander, United States Central Command

General Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie (Ret.) became the Executive Director of the University of South Florida’s Global and National Security Institute in May 2022. In July 2022, he also became the Executive Director of the Florida Center for Cybersecurity, also known as Cyber Florida. He is the former Commander, United States Central Command. A native of Birmingham, Alabama, upon graduation from The Citadel in 1979, General McKenzie was commissioned into the Marine Corps and trained as an infantry officer.

Lieutenant General Michael Groen (US Marine Corps, Ret.)

Former Director, Joint Artificial Intelligence Center

Lieutenant General Michael Groen (US Marine Corps, Ret.) served over 36 years in the U.S. military, culminating his career as the senior executive for AI in the Department. Groen also served in the National Security Agency overseeing Computer Network Operations, and as the Director of Joint Staff Intelligence, working closely with the Chairman and Senior Leaders across the Department. He is an experienced Marine commander and multi-tour combat veteran. Groen earned Masters Degrees in Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics from the Naval Postgraduate School

Rick Ledgett

Former Deputy Director of NSA

Rick Ledgett served as the Deputy Director of the National Security Agency from January 2014 until his retirement in April 2017, culminating a nearly 40-year career in cryptology at NSA and in the U.S. Army. He previously led the Media Leaks Task Force, the Agency's response to the Snowden leaks. He was the first National Intelligence Manager for Cyber at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and he directed NSA's 24/7 cyber threat operations center.

Christopher Krebs

Partner, Krebs-Stamos Group

Kelly Bissell

Deputy CISO, Microsoft

Kelly Bissell joined Microsoft as CVP in 2022.

Prior to this, Bissell led Accenture’s Global Security business and oversaw security services including strategic consulting, cyber defense, digital identity, response and remediation services, and managed security services. With more than 25 years of security industry experience, Bissell specializes in breach incident response, identity management, privacy and data protection, secure software development, and cyber risk management. His role at Accenture spanned strategic consulting, proactive risk management and digital identity to cyber defense, response and remediation services, and managed security services—across all industries.

Suzanne Spaulding

Senior Adviser, Homeland Security, International Security Program

Suzanne Spaulding is senior adviser for homeland security and director of the Defending Democratic Institutions project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She also serves as a member of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Previously, she served as undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where she led the National Protection and Programs Directorate, now called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), managing a $3 billion budget and a workforce of 18,000 that is charged with strengthening cybersecurity and protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure, including election infrastructure. Ms. Spaulding has worked in the executive branch in Republican and Democratic administrations and on both sides of the aisle in Congress. She was general counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and minority staff director for the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She also spent six years at the Central Intelligence Agency, where she was assistant general counsel and the legal adviser to the director’s Nonproliferation Center. She was executive director of two congressionally created commissions, on weapons of mass destruction and on terrorism. Following the attacks of 9/11, Ms. Spaulding worked with key critical infrastructure sectors as they reviewed their security posture and advised the CEOs of the Business Roundtable. In 2002, she was appointed by Governor Mark Warner of Virginia to the Secure Commonwealth Panel to advise the governor and the legislature regarding preparedness issues. She was managing partner of the Harbour Group, a principal in the Bingham Consulting Group, and of counsel to Bingham McCutchen LLP. In addition to her work at CSIS, Ms. Spaulding currently serves on a number of corporate boards and advisory boards and is a member of the Homeland Security Experts Group (HSEG).

Kevin Mandia

CEO of Mandiant

Kevin Mandia is the Chief Executive Officer of Mandiant and previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of FireEye, a position he held from June 2016 through September 2021. Mandia was appointed to the company’s Board of Directors in February 2016. As CEO of Mandiant, Mandia grew the company to more than $100 million in revenue and has spent more than 20 years in information security. He is a former United States Air Force Officer and former special agent in the Air Force Office of Special Investigations.

Dmitri Alperovitch

Executive Chairman, Silverado Policy Accelerator

Dmitri Alperovitch is the Executive Chairman at Silverado Policy Accelerator and is a co-founder and former CTO of CrowdStrike. In 2016, Alperovitch revealed Russian intelligence agencies’ hacking of the Democratic National Committee (DNC), events which unveiled the full scope of cyber influence operations being launched against the 2016 US Election. Alperovitch is currently a Senior Fellow at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center’s Defending Digital Democracy Project and a Senior Fellow at Atlantic Council. He currently serves on the RSA Conference Advisory Board.

Robert Hannigan

Chairman, BlueVoyant / Former GCHQ Director

Robert Hannigan serves as Chairman of BlueVoyant. He previously served as Director of GCHQ, the UK’s largest intelligence agency (and NSA equivalent) from 2014-17. Hannigan established the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre in 2016 and was responsible for the UK’s active cyber defence and offensive cyber programs. He spent twenty years in national security roles, including serving as the Prime Minister’s Security Adviser from 2007-2010. Hannigan is a long-standing member of the UK’s Joint Intelligence Committee.

Andrew Boyd

Former Senior Intelligence Service Officer, Directorate of Operations, CIA

Andy Boyd was a Senior Intelligence Service officer in the Central Intelligence Agency’s Directorate of Operations (DO). His most recent assignment was Director of the CIA’s Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI) which is responsible for intelligence collection, analysis, and operations focused on foreign cyber threats to US interests. This position required regular interaction with DCIA, the White House, Congress, and senior officials from DoD, FBI, DHS, and an array of senior foreign partners from across the globe.

Andy has experience leading worldwide intelligence operations and has in-depth knowledge of geopolitics, cyber operations, and security practices and risk mitigation. He is a respected thought leader within the USG cyber and intelligence communities with expertise in cyber threats, intelligence collection, covert action, counterterrorism, counterintelligence, cyber operations and strategic analysis.

Matt Hayden

Former A/S for Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk and Resilience Policy, DHS

Matt Hayden served as the Assistant Secretary for Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk and Resilience Policy at DHS where he was responsible for leading policy development in support of department-wide efforts to reduce national risks with a focus on critical infrastructure cybersecurity, federal network security, countering cyber-crime, and improving the security and resilience of the global cyber ecosystem, as well as national resilience initiatives that enhance Federal, State, and local government and community preparedness and response capabilities. Additionally, he served as an expert advisor on Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk and Resilience matters to the Under Secretary, Secretary, and other high-level officials.

Candice Frost COL (R.)

Adjunct Professor, Georgetown University

Colonel Frost retired in 2023 from the United States Army after more than twenty-five years of service in intelligence and cyber operations, including tours of duty in the Balkans and multiple deployments to Afghanistan. She was instrumental in the integration of women into combat arms and served close to half of her career in infantry divisions. Colonel Frost is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University instructing on cybersecurity, strategy, and policy. She is also a small business owner on leadership and mentoring to encourage women in national security.

Teresa Shea

Former Vice President of Cyber Offense and Defense Experts (CODEX) for Raytheon Intelligence and Space (RIS)

Teresa Shea is former Vice President of Cyber Offense and Defense Experts (CODEX) for Raytheon Intelligence and Space (RIS). Shea previously worked at In-Q-Tel as Executive Vice President of Technology and director of Cyber-Reboot. Shea spent thirty-two years at the National Security Agency (NSA) holding key leadership assignments including serving as Director of Signals Intelligence. Shea is a former Board Member at Recorded Future and former Board advisor to the Virginia Tech Hume Center. She currently serves on the Georgia Institute of Technology Board of Advisors.

Debora Plunkett

Former Director of Information Assurance, NSA

Debora Plunkett is a cybersecurity leader with over 30 years of experience. A former Director of Information Assurance at the National Security Agency, she is currently Principal of Plunkett Associates LLC, a consulting business. She is a Senior Fellow at Harvard and a Professor at the University of Maryland University College. Plunkett is a Director on JCPenney’s Corporate Board, a member of the Strategic Advisory Board of Raytheon Integrated Defense Systems and the Advisory Board of the International Consortium for Minority Cybersecurity Professionals. She was on the National Security Council at the White House in two administrations.

John Carlin

Cipher Brief Expert, Partner at Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Former Cipher Brief Expert John P. Carlin currently serves as the U.S. Acting Deputy Attorney General. He formerly chaired Morrison & Foerster’s Global Risk and Crisis Management practice, advising industry-leading organizations in sensitive cyber and other national security matters, white collar investigations, and government enforcement actions. He is author of Dawn of the Code War: America’s Battle Against Russia, China and the Rising Global Cyber Threat.

Mr. Carlin previously served as Assistant Attorney General for National Security, overseeing nearly 400 employees responsible for protecting the nation against terrorism, espionage, and cyber and other national security threats. During his tenure, the National Security Division (NSD): investigated the attack on Sony Entertainment’s computer systems; secured the first federal jury conviction on charges brought under the Economic Espionage Act of 1996; and led DOJ’s participation on the Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States.

Prior to assuming his role in the NSD, Mr. Carlin served as Chief of Staff and Senior Counsel to Robert S. Mueller, III, former director of the FBI, where he helped lead the FBI’s evolution to meet growing and changing national security threats, including cyber threats. Mr. Carlin also held positions as National Coordinator of the DOJ’s Computer Hacking and Intellectual Property Program and Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, where he prosecuted cyber, fraud, and public corruption matters, among others, trying more than 40 cases to verdict.

The Hon. Leslie Ireland

Board Member, Citi Group / Former Asst. Secretary of the Treasury for Intelligence and Analysis

The Honorable Leslie Ireland joined Treasury in 2010, after serving 25 years at CIA where she specialized in Iran, the Middle East and WMD. From 2008-2010, Ireland served as daily intelligence briefer to President. As the first DNI Iran Mission Manager from 2005-2008, she served as the principal advisor to the DNI on Iran and was responsible for overseeing the intelligence process on Iran for the entire US government. Ireland sits on the Board of Directors at Citigroup, Inc. and The Stimson Center.

Jeanette Manfra

Director of Risk & Compliance at Google Cloud; Former A/S for Cybersecurity and Communications, DHS

Jeanette Manfra is Director of Risk & Compliance at Google Cloud and is the former Assistant Secretary for Cybersecurity and Communications at the Department of Homeland Security. She previously served as Counselor to the Secretary and served as Director for Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity as part of the National Security Council staff from 2014-2015. Prior to that she served as Deputy Director of both Enterprise Performance Management and the Office of Emergency Communications at the Department of Homeland Security.

Glenn Gerstell

Former General Counsel, National Security Agency

Glenn S. Gerstell, a Senior Adviser at the Center for Strategic & International Studies, served as the General Counsel of the NSA and Central Security Service from 2015 to 2020. Prior to this, Mr. Gerstell practiced law for almost 40 years at Milbank, LLP, focusing on the global telecommunications industry and serving as the managing partner of four offices. He has written and spoken widely about the intersections of technology, national security, and privacy. He served on the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council, which reports to the President and the Secretary of Homeland Security on security threats to the nation’s infrastructure, as well as on the District of Columbia Homeland Security Commission.

Jon Darby

Former Director of the Operations Directorate, NSA/CSS

Frank Ciluffo

Director of McCrary Institute for Cyber & Critical Infrastructure Security, Auburn University

Frank J. Cilluffo serves as Director of Auburn University’s McCrary Institute for Cyber & Critical Infrastructure Security. He has decades of national and homeland security experience derived from working inside and outside government including serving as a Special Assistant for Homeland Security to President Bush in the White House, immediately following the 9/11 attacks on the US. He recently served as a commissioner on the Cyberspace Solarium Commission and chaired a handful of committees for the Homeland Security Advisory Council on economic security, cybersecurity and counterterrorism. He has testified before Congress dozens of times and has published extensively in major media.

100%

of survey respondents rated CIG speakers as Excellent

4177

Registered attendees from CIG summits to date

92%

of survey respondents rated CIG summits as among the best or the best cyber events they have ever attended

"The Cybersecurity Summit unquestionably ranks with the very best of the numerous cyber conferences in which I have participated. The level and range of expert dialogue are always unmatched, and the agenda unerringly focuses attention on the issues that are most critical to government and the private sector."

—GENERAL DAVID PETRAEUS (Ret.)

Former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and Coalition and US Forces in Afghanistan; Former Director of the CIA

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR VIRTUAL SUMMIT SERIES

Our virtual summits take expert insights on cyber and channel them into practical information focused on the public and private sectors.

VIEW THE SERIES

A Conversation with Brad Smith and The Hon. Susan Gordon

What roles does the private sector hold in national security? Microsoft President Brad Smith sits down with former PDDNI The Hon. Susan...

A Conversation with Chris Inglis and Ciaran Martin

Former NSA Deputy Director Chris Inglis and former CEO, National Cyber Security Centre (UK), Ciaran Martin take the virtual stage at The...

A Conversation with Alex Creswell and Conrad Prince

Former Deputy Director of the NSA Rick Ledgett talks with former Deputy Director of GCHQ Conrad Prince and former member of the British...

"We're actually entering the most dangerous part of cyber conflict that we've ever had."

Dmitri Alperovitch @DAlperovitch told @thecipherbrief #TCB CyberSummit

LEADER'S CORNER

U.S. National Security Depends on American Tech and a Healthy Relationship with Risk

John Edwards

Feb 28
4 min

U.S. National Security Depends on American Tech and a Healthy Relationship with Risk

Former CIA D/COO John Edwards calls for closer collaboration between the USG and tech industry.

Hackers are Taking Advantage of Gaps in U.S. Cybersecurity Policy

Mark Montgomery and Michael Sugden

Feb 15
4 min

Hackers are Taking Advantage of Gaps in U.S. Cybersecurity Policy

Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery (Ret.) and Michael Sugden discuss how policymakers are protecting you from firmware hackers.

Information Quality is a Democratic Necessity in the Age of AI

Ellen McCarthy and Doowan Lee

Feb 12
6 min

Information Quality is a Democratic Necessity in the Age of AI

Hon. Ellen McCarthy and Doowan Lee discuss how trust in our institutions and elections have been impacted in the age of AI.

VIEW ALL ARTICLES

2024 CIG Summit Dates
Spring Summit: 20 March 2024 12p-4p EST
Summer Summit: 12 June 2024 12p-4p EST
Fall Summit: 18 Sep 2024 12p-4p EST
Winter Summit: 11 Dec 2024, 12p-4p EST

Sign up for the CIG Newsletter

OUR MISSION

PRINCIPALS COMMITTEE

100%

4177

92%

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR VIRTUAL SUMMIT SERIES

Our virtual summits take expert insights on cyber and channel them into practical information focused on the public and private sectors.

"We're actually entering the most dangerous part of cyber conflict that we've ever had."

Dmitri Alperovitch @DAlperovitch told @thecipherbrief #TCB CyberSummit

LEADER'S CORNER

RECOMMENDED READING

THANK YOU TO OUR PLATINUM SPONSORS

A Property of The Cipher Brief

2024 CIG Summit Dates Spring Summit: 20 March 2024 12p-4p EST Summer Summit: 12 June 2024 12p-4p EST Fall Summit: 18 Sep 2024 12p-4p EST Winter Summit: 11 Dec 2024, 12p-4p EST

Sign up for the CIG Newsletter

OUR MISSION

PRINCIPALS COMMITTEE

100%

4177

92%

HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR VIRTUAL SUMMIT SERIES

Our virtual summits take expert insights on cyber and channel them into practical information focused on the public and private sectors.

"We're actually entering the most dangerous part of cyber conflict that we've ever had." Dmitri Alperovitch @DAlperovitch told @thecipherbrief #TCB CyberSummit

LEADER'S CORNER

RECOMMENDED READING

THANK YOU TO OUR PLATINUM SPONSORS

2024 CIG Summit Dates
Spring Summit: 20 March 2024 12p-4p EST
Summer Summit: 12 June 2024 12p-4p EST
Fall Summit: 18 Sep 2024 12p-4p EST
Winter Summit: 11 Dec 2024, 12p-4p EST

"We're actually entering the most dangerous part of cyber conflict that we've ever had."

Dmitri Alperovitch @DAlperovitch told @thecipherbrief #TCB CyberSummit