CISA Builds Out Effort to Influence Global Policy With London Attaché

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is opening an office in London this month to collaborate with UK officials and those of other US federal agencies, the agency said Monday.

The office will focus on “advancing operational cooperation; building partner capacity; strengthening collaboration through stakeholder engagement and outreach; and shaping the global policy ecosystem,” reads a press release, noting it will “serve as a model as CISA matures its international mission to drive down cybersecurity risks.”

CISA said the first UK Attaché will be Julie Johnson, a former State Department staffer who was previously working as a regional protective security advisor for CISA in New York, where she participated in federal interagency working groups. 

At State, Johnson worked at bureaus for Intelligence and Research, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, and Educational and Cultural Affairs, according to the press release. She was involved in “citizen exchanges, fulbright scholarships, IT center deployments and international training,” while there, it said. 

“As America’s cyber defense agency, we know that digital threat actors don’t operate neatly within borders. To help build resilience against threats domestically, we must think globally,” said CISA Director Jen Easterly. “I’m thrilled for CISA’s first international Attaché Office to open in London—true operational collaboration is a global endeavor.”