Then-Millenium challenge corporation CEO Sean Cairncross speaks during a ceremony on Aug. 5, 2019 at the presidential palace in Abidjan. (Photo by ISSOUF SANOGO / AFP) (Photo credit should read ISSOUF SANOGO/AFP via Getty Images)
The national cyber director is pitching an approach that blends cyber operations with diplomacy, law enforcement and pressure on CEOs to shore up their organizations.
Brett Leatherman is running the bureau's most public cyber campaign yet, pushing basic security hygiene while quietly preparing industry for stepped-up Chinese threats.
Madhu Gottumukkala, acting director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, testifies during the DHS oversight hearing in the Cannon House office building on Jan. 21, 2026. The hearing covered a full oversight into the Department of Homeland Security, CISA, TSA and S&T. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem arrives for a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill on May 8, 2025. Noem testified before the Homeland Security Subcommittee about her department’s FY 2026 budget request. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
The legislation also includes mandates on election security funding and CISA staff levels, as well as an extension of a state and local cyber grant program.
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., speaks to reporters before attending an afternoon Republican caucus meeting at the U.S. Capitol on Sep. 29, 2023. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)