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Jen Easterly

Jen Easterly is an American national security professional specializing in cybersecurity, who served as the Director of the (CISA) from July 2021 to January 2025. A graduate of the at West Point and a combat veteran with service as an in the U.S. Army, Easterly held senior roles including Special Assistant to the President for counterterrorism strategy during the Obama administration and global head of the Cybersecurity at prior to her CISA appointment. During her tenure at CISA, an agency under the Department of Homeland Security tasked with safeguarding from cyber threats, Easterly oversaw responses to major incidents including attacks on pipelines and hospitals, and enhanced federal coordination on election security amid foreign interference concerns. Her leadership emphasized public-private partnerships and resilience against emerging technologies like in cyber operations. However, CISA under Easterly faced accusations from critics, including Republican lawmakers and conservative activists, of overreach into domestic speech by partnering with platforms to flag and mitigate what the agency termed , particularly surrounding the 2020 U.S. presidential election and policies—efforts Easterly defended as voluntary information-sharing to protect against foreign campaigns rather than . Easterly's post-CISA career included a visiting fellowship at Oxford University's and a brief appointment as a distinguished chair at West Point, which was rescinded in July 2025 following public backlash over her prior agency's actions. She has been recognized for advancing organizational but remains a polarizing figure in debates over the balance between imperatives and First protections.

Early life and education

Family background and early influences

Easterly was born in 1968, during the year of President John F. Kennedy's assassination; family accounts describe her mother having difficulty drawing her father away from television coverage of the funeral to attend the birth. She was raised in . Her , born in the suburb of to an unwed 16-year-old mother without a present in his , enlisted in the U.S. military and served in the . He recounted personal stories to Easterly, such as visiting monuments wherever his travels took him, emphasizing themes of , , and reverence that shaped her early understanding of . Her mother grew up in , , as the child of and immigrants in an Jewish household headed by her grandfather, an . These familial roots, particularly her father's military background as the daughter of an enlisted veteran, influenced Easterly's path toward public service and her admission to the at West Point. She attended High School in Potomac, graduating as in 1986. Her mother's heritage added layers of cultural and international awareness, later reflected in the elder woman's travels to the , including a visit to her own mother's childhood home in , .

Academic and preparatory training

Easterly attended the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York, where she completed a rigorous four-year program combining academic instruction, physical training, and military preparation. She graduated in 1990 as a distinguished graduate with a Bachelor of Science degree, a designation recognizing superior performance among cadets. The USMA curriculum emphasized engineering, sciences, humanities, and leadership development, alongside mandatory military drills and ethical training grounded in the academy's cadet honor code. Following her commissioning as a in the U.S. Army, Easterly was selected as a Rhodes Scholar, enabling advanced study at the . She earned a Master of Arts in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) from Pembroke College, focusing on interdisciplinary analysis of governance, economic systems, and philosophical frameworks relevant to and . This graduate training supplemented her military foundation with theoretical tools for strategic decision-making, though it did not involve formal military preparatory elements beyond her prior USMA experience.

Military career

Initial service and training

Easterly graduated from the at West Point on May 31, 1990, and was commissioned as a in the U.S. Army. Her initial assignment was as a officer with the , where she began her service in intelligence operations. As a in the branch, Easterly's early roles focused on operational intelligence support, including subsequent positions such as operations officer with the 70th . These assignments provided foundational training in intelligence collection, analysis, and staff functions, aligning with standard officer development in the branch, which emphasizes tactical and strategic intelligence skills through on-the-job experience and formal courses like the Military Intelligence Officer Basic Course at . Her initial military service laid the groundwork for later specialized roles in cyber operations, though specific details on early formal training beyond branch qualification remain consistent with protocols for West Point graduates entering branches.

Deployments and operational roles

Easterly's military deployments spanned multiple conflict zones, reflecting her roles in intelligence and signals operations within the U.S. Army. Early in her career, she served in during humanitarian and stability operations, contributing to intelligence support amid post-earthquake recovery efforts in the late 1990s or early 2000s, though specific dates for this tour remain undocumented in public records. Similarly, she deployed to Bosnia as part of missions in the , focusing on to monitor regional stability following the Dayton Accords implementation. In , Easterly held the position of chief of the cryptologic services group in , overseeing collection and analysis during combat operations in the mid-2000s, a role that involved coordinating with forces to counter insurgent threats through encrypted communications intercepts. Her service earned her one for meritorious achievement in this high-risk environment. Later, from approximately October 2010 to May 2011, she deployed to for seven to eight months, stationed in where she managed intelligence operations supporting counterterrorism efforts against and networks; this tour personally impacted her family, as her husband had previously deployed to from 2008 to 2009. These combat deployments underscored her expertise in operational intelligence, earning her a second . Throughout these assignments, Easterly's operational roles emphasized cyber-enabled , including early integration of network defense tactics into field operations, though formal cyber units were nascent during her active deployments. Her experiences in and directly informed subsequent cyber doctrine development, bridging tactical signals work with emerging digital warfare needs. No public records detail additional deployments beyond these, and her service concluded after over 20 years without further overseas operational tours post-2011.

Leadership positions and transitions

Easterly advanced through command and staff roles in military intelligence before transitioning to cybersecurity leadership as the field emerged in the early 2000s. She commanded a company while stationed at , , during her service with the . Her early operational experience included serving as an operations officer with the 70th Military Intelligence Brigade and deploying to in support of activities. In the mid-2000s, Easterly shifted focus to cyber operations amid growing recognition of digital threats, contributing to the establishment of (USCYBERCOM). She played a key role in its design and creation, bridging intelligence expertise with emerging cyber doctrine. This period marked a broader Army transition from siloed intelligence functions to integrated cyber capabilities, with Easterly advocating for specialized units to conduct offensive and defensive operations in . A pivotal assignment came when Easterly commanded the Army's inaugural , responsible for standing it up from , including training, equipping, and operationalizing personnel for warfare tasks. This command reflected her progression to senior field-grade responsibilities, emphasizing scalable forces amid doctrinal debates over whether such units should prioritize disruption or protection. She earned two Bronze Stars for her service across these and roles. Easterly retired from the in the early 2010s as a after over 20 years, having held command positions in both conventional intelligence and pioneering formations. Her career trajectory underscored a shift from deployment-focused tactical leadership to strategic institutional building, as the military adapted to persistent domains beyond traditional battlefields. This retirement enabled her move to civilian national security roles, including at the .

Pre-CISA civilian career

Government advisory roles

Following her retirement from the U.S. Army as a , Easterly served as for at the (NSA), a position she held for approximately two years in the early , focusing on and policy recommendations related to terrorist threats. She subsequently joined the White House staff during the George W. Bush administration, acting as executive assistant to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice from 2001 to 2005, where her responsibilities included supporting strategic coordination on matters, including and integration across agencies. Easterly returned to government service in the Barack Obama administration, serving as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Counterterrorism on the from October 2013 to February 2016; in this role, she advised on strategy, coordinated interagency responses to global threats such as those posed by ISIS, and contributed to policy development on and sharing.

Private sector engagements

In 2017, following her service on the National Security Council, Easterly joined Morgan Stanley as a managing director and Head of Firm Resilience. In this capacity, she established and directed the firm's Cybersecurity Fusion Center, integrating threat intelligence, analytics, and resilience operations to counter cyber risks in financial services. Her responsibilities encompassed leading global threat intelligence efforts, enhancing organizational preparedness against cyber and physical disruptions, and fostering cross-functional collaboration to mitigate vulnerabilities in a high-stakes banking environment. Easterly's private sector tenure at , spanning approximately four years until her 2021 nomination to lead CISA, marked a transition from to applying cybersecurity expertise in a commercial context, where she emphasized proactive fusion of and strategies amid rising threats to financial . This role built on her prior experience, focusing on scalable defenses for private entities handling sensitive data and transactions.

Tenure as Director of CISA

Appointment and early leadership

President Joe Biden nominated Jen Easterly to serve as Director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) in April 2021, selecting her for her extensive experience in counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and resilience operations from prior roles at the National Security Agency and in the private sector. The U.S. Senate confirmed her nomination unanimously by voice vote on July 12, 2021, ending an eight-month period without a permanent Senate-confirmed leader for the agency, which had been operating under acting directors since its founding in November 2018. Easterly assumed office on July 13, 2021, as the second Senate-confirmed director in CISA's history, inheriting responsibilities amid escalating national cybersecurity threats, including major ransomware incidents like those affecting Colonial Pipeline and JBS earlier that year. In her initial months, Easterly prioritized enhancing CISA's capacity to reduce risks proactively rather than solely responding to breaches, advocating for greater emphasis on prevention through public-private collaboration and assessments. She directed efforts to bolster defenses against evolving cyber threats, including state-sponsored actors and groups, while committing to sustain measures such as the "Rumor Control" initiative used in 2020 to counter . Under her early guidance, CISA expanded vulnerability scanning and advisory services to critical sectors, aiming to mitigate disruptions to like and supply chains that had been highlighted by recent attacks.

Key cybersecurity initiatives

During her tenure as Director of CISA, Jen Easterly prioritized initiatives aimed at shifting cybersecurity practices toward proactive risk reduction, emphasizing and collaborative mitigation across government and private sectors. One cornerstone was the (SbD) campaign, launched in April 2023 through a whitepaper titled "Shifting the Balance of Cybersecurity Risk," which sought to embed security into from rather than relying on post-deployment patching. By May 2024, over 250 companies had signed the SbD Pledge, committing to prioritize secure defaults, , and reduction of common vulnerabilities like those identified in MITRE's "unforgivable" defects list. Easterly advanced federal cybersecurity by allocating approximately $600 million to bolster .gov network defenses, resulting in the remediation of 25 million vulnerabilities—a 72% reduction in those exposed for over 45 days—and deployment of tools across more than 50 agencies covering 900,000 devices. These efforts detected 1,900 s and blocked 692 million malicious connections via the Protective Domain Name Solution. Complementing this, CISA under her leadership conducted 97 threat hunt engagements in 2023 to eradicate actors from , shared over 1,100 indicators with partners, and issued 1,900 pre-ransomware notifications alongside 2,000 vulnerability warnings that mitigated 3 million vulnerabilities across 7,600 organizations since 2022. The Joint Cyber Defense Collaborative (JCDC), established in 2021 and expanded under Easterly's direction, unified capabilities from federal agencies, state and local governments, and over 320 entities to produce 93 joint cyber alerts and 14 sector-specific defense plans. This included extensions to industrial control systems in April 2022 and AI cybersecurity playbooks in 2025 for voluntary threat information sharing. Additionally, Easterly promoted Zero Trust Architecture adoption, issuing Binding Operational Directive 23-02 in June 2023 to secure internet-exposed management interfaces in federal systems and releasing an updated Zero Trust Maturity Model in 2023 with phased implementation guidance for agencies. In addressing , CISA released an AI Roadmap in late 2023, conducted initial AI risk assessments in 2024, and appointed a Chief AI Officer in 2024 to manage associated cyber risks.

Infrastructure security advancements

During Jen Easterly's tenure as CISA Director, the agency advanced protection through expanded stakeholder engagements and targeted programs addressing physical vulnerabilities. In 2023, CISA conducted over 6,700 engagements with sectors including water and wastewater systems, K-12 education facilities, healthcare providers, and election to disseminate threat intelligence and encourage adoption of protective services. These efforts built on the Infrastructure Security Division's role in coordinating national risk reduction strategies across physical and cyber domains. A notable initiative was the ChemLock program, which marked its second anniversary in November 2023 and provided chemical facilities with no-cost assessments and tools to bolster both cyber and postures. Complementing this, CISA launched programs in 2023, including the State and Local Cybersecurity Grant Program in partnership with FEMA and a $18.2 million Tribal Cybersecurity Grant Program announced in September, aimed at enhancing resilience in underserved infrastructure sectors. In 2024, CISA updated the National Cybersecurity Infrastructure Resilience Plan (NCIRP) and issued guidance on secure configurations to mitigate physical access risks tied to digital dependencies. Easterly's leadership also integrated emerging threats into infrastructure strategies, such as releasing a Roadmap for in late 2023 to manage AI-related risks to critical sectors, followed by the first annual AI risk assessments in January 2024 and the appointment of a Chief AI Officer in 2024. These measures supported broader national efforts to reduce physical risks, including through partnerships outlined in CISA's first International Strategic Plan released on October 29, 2024. Additionally, emergency communications capabilities expanded with 51,023 new Government Emergency Telecommunications Service (GETS) subscribers, 283,357 Wireless Priority Service (WPS) subscribers, and 18,307 Telecommunications Service Priority (TSP) circuits added in 2023, enhancing operational continuity during physical disruptions.

Election-related activities and disinformation response

Under Easterly's leadership, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) intensified efforts to secure election infrastructure as a critical subsector, building on its designation in 2017 with CISA serving as the Sector Risk Management Agency. The agency added Election Security Advisor positions across its 10 regions to support state and local officials, conducted vulnerability scans, and provided training to over 4,000 election stakeholders by mid-2024. In September 2024, CISA released cybersecurity and physical security checklists tailored for election officials to mitigate risks from cyber threats and physical attacks. Easterly testified before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence on May 15, 2024, outlining foreign adversarial attempts to influence the 2024 elections through hacking and disinformation, while affirming that U.S. election systems had achieved unprecedented resilience due to enhanced information-sharing and multi-state exercises like Election Infrastructure Cyber Resiliency workshops. CISA launched the #PROTECT2024 initiative in early to coordinate defenses against , physical, and threats, culminating in a January 2025 report detailing partnerships with election officials, technology providers, and federal agencies to fortify systems and supply chains. Following the November 5, , general election, Easterly issued a statement declaring no evidence of malicious activity impacting infrastructure integrity, crediting proactive measures such as real-time threat monitoring via the National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center. These activities extended prior efforts, including support for the 2022 midterms through similar advisories and simulations, though Easterly repeatedly emphasized that election administration remains a state and local responsibility, with CISA providing voluntary assistance without regulatory authority. In addressing , CISA under Easterly focused primarily on foreign-sourced threats, issuing a joint with the FBI on October 18, 2024, warning of tactics by actors from , , and to sow doubt via fake videos, hacked materials, and amplified narratives on . The agency shifted away from direct involvement in decisions by 2024, discontinuing programs like the Election Integrity Partnership that had flagged potential for platforms during the 2020 cycle, amid scrutiny over perceived overreach. Easterly advocated for building societal "resilience" to in public statements, such as a November 2021 where she highlighted the importance of countering narratives undermining trust, though a 2023 congressional review criticized CISA's prior collaborations with tech firms as enabling suppression of domestic speech under the guise of foreign influence mitigation. A 2024 Department of report found improvements in countering since 2020 but noted persistent gaps in measuring the effectiveness of CISA's awareness campaigns.

Controversies and criticisms of agency actions

CISA's efforts to combat and under Director Jen Easterly's leadership, particularly through the agency's Mis-, Dis-, and Malinformation (MDM) team established in with approximately 15 staff members focused on elections and , drew significant criticism for constituting government overreach into private speech. The agency engaged in "switchboarding," whereby it forwarded reports of alleged to platforms such as and for potential removal or suppression, a practice confirmed in depositions from the Missouri v. Biden lawsuit (filed May 5, 2022). Critics, including the House Judiciary Committee's Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, argued in a June 26, 2023, staff report that these actions amounted to collusion with to censor protected political speech, violating the First Amendment, with evidence from internal emails and communications showing CISA's coordination extended to flagging domestic content rather than solely foreign threats. Easterly defended the MDM initiatives by characterizing "cognitive infrastructure"—the information ecosystem influencing public decision-making—as the nation's most , a statement made during a , 2021, appearance at the REWIRED conference. This framing prompted backlash from congressional Republicans, who viewed it as an unauthorized expansion of CISA's statutory mandate limited to cybersecurity and physical infrastructure protection, potentially enabling viewpoint-based . In response to legal scrutiny following the Missouri v. Biden preliminary injunction, CISA outsourced similar functions to the Election Infrastructure Information Sharing and Analysis Center (EI-ISAC) in 2022, which continued flagging content including posts by Senator in October 2022, while the agency scrubbed references to domestic MDM efforts from its website by February 26, 2023. Hearings such as the House Oversight Committee's "Censorship Laundering" session on May 11, 2023, highlighted these practices as indirect mechanisms to evade judicial oversight. Internal criticisms also emerged regarding Easterly's leadership priorities, with agency insiders in December 2022 expressing concerns that her emphasis on and public-facing initiatives distracted from core cybersecurity operations. A former CISA official stated, "The day-to-day effect of Jen's branding push is that it hurts the work and execution," amid reports of unclear strategic and hiring shortfalls that hampered acquisition despite workforce from 2,392 employees in September 2021 to 2,626 by June 2022. These issues were compounded by state officials' warnings in August 2022 against CISA's involvement in content monitoring, citing risks to in electoral processes.

Post-CISA activities

Departure from CISA

Jen Easterly stepped down as Director of the (CISA) on , 2025, coinciding with the inauguration of President . Her departure followed the standard transition for political appointees at the conclusion of the Biden administration, during which she had led the agency since her on July 13, 2021. CISA confirmed Easterly's exit date in November 2024, stating it would occur on Inauguration Day alongside that of Nitin Natarajan, amid uncertainty about the agency's direction under the incoming administration. The agency did not specify immediate plans for Easterly's successor, though acting leadership arrangements were anticipated during the transition period. Cybersecurity professionals reacted to the announcement with a mix of appreciation for Easterly's tenure—highlighting achievements in response and —and concerns over potential shifts in priorities, such as reduced emphasis on election security or international partnerships. No official reasons beyond the administrative change were cited for the departure, and Easterly had not publicly detailed her future endeavors at the time of the announcement.

Advisory and academic appointments

Following her departure from CISA in early 2025, Easterly joined the strategic of , a cybersecurity company focused on managed detection and response for small and medium-sized businesses, on August 5, 2025. In this role, she provides guidance on federal cybersecurity strategies and innovation at the intersection of national defense and private-sector threat mitigation. Easterly was appointed as a Visiting Fellow at the , , effective June 24, 2025. Her fellowship involves contributing to academic research and teaching on topics including , security, and leadership in public-sector institutions. This position leverages her prior government experience to inform policy-oriented scholarship on emerging technological risks.

West Point role and subsequent backlash

In July 2025, the at West Point appointed Jen Easterly, a 1998 graduate of the academy, as the Robert F. McDermott Distinguished Chair in its Department of Sciences. The position, funded by an external endowment, involved academic responsibilities focused on and cybersecurity topics within the social sciences curriculum. The appointment quickly faced online opposition from commentator , who highlighted Easterly's leadership at the (CISA) and accused the agency under her direction of engaging in by flagging election-related content as during the 2020 and 2024 election cycles. Loomer and other critics argued that such actions violated First Amendment principles and represented government overreach into content , pointing to CISA's partnerships with platforms to mitigate perceived foreign influence operations. Easterly had previously testified before denying any direct , asserting that CISA's efforts targeted only foreign threats and that allegations of domestic suppression were factually inaccurate. On July 30, 2025, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll, in a public statement, directed West Point to rescind Easterly's appointment, pause all selections of academy instructors by outside groups, and initiate a comprehensive review of hiring practices for endowed chairs to ensure alignment with departmental standards and merit-based criteria. Driscoll's decision followed the public outcry, though his office emphasized procedural concerns over political influence. Easterly responded in a public essay, framing the rescission as a product of "casually manufactured outrage" driven by partisan narratives rather than substantive evaluation of her qualifications, which include over two decades of cybersecurity and intelligence experience across public and private sectors. The incident underscored tensions in post-administration transitions for personnel, with supporters viewing it as evidence of politicization in military academic appointments, while detractors saw it as accountability for prior agency conduct.

Awards and honors

Military decorations

Easterly received the twice for her service in U.S. Army intelligence and cyber operations. The award, established in 1944, recognizes heroic or meritorious achievement or service in a combat zone, or exceptionally meritorious service not involving combat participation. No specific dates or operational contexts for her Bronze Star awards are detailed in official biographies.

Civilian and professional recognitions

In 2022, Easterly received the Rear Admiral Award from the , recognizing her contributions to cybersecurity and computing advancements. She was also honored that year with the inaugural Award in Ethical Leadership from the George C. Marshall International Center, awarded for exemplary leadership in and . Easterly earned the Wash100 Award in multiple years for her cybersecurity leadership, including selections in 2022, 2023, and 2024, as determined by Executive Mosaic's panel of government and industry experts evaluating influence in federal sectors. In 2023, she received the Sisterhood Award from , acknowledging her efforts to promote women in technology and STEM fields. Additionally, Easterly was awarded the James W. Foley Hostage Award for her work on hostage recovery and counterterrorism policy, and the Bradley W. Snyder Changing the Narrative Award for advancing public discourse on issues.

Personal life

Family and personal relationships

Easterly was born Jennie Margaret Koch on October 26, 1973, to Noel Clinton Koch, a former government official, and June Quint Koch, a college professor and former at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. She has two brothers, Gabriel and Elias; Elias died by on December 4, 2001. Easterly married and U.S. Jason Tighe Easterly on April 3, 2004, in . Her husband deployed to , after which he grappled with (PTSD).

Public advocacy and hobbies

Easterly has publicly advocated for awareness, with a focus on . On December 6, 2021, she released a personal message through CISA recounting her brother Eli's on December 4, 2001, and urged individuals facing similar struggles to seek support, addressing recipients as a sister and friend rather than in her official capacity. This effort has positioned her as an active advocate in biographical profiles. Among her hobbies, Easterly enjoys solving Rubik's Cubes, describing herself as an enthusiast in professional bios and . She has also expressed aspiration to learn .

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