The United States Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has announced that it is opening its first office outside of the US in London, to serve as a focal point for international collaboration between CISA, UK government officials, and other federal agency officials.
The CISA attaché, led by former regional protective security advisor Julie Johnson, is intended to advance CISA’s missions in cybersecurity, critical infrastructure protection, and emergency communications. It will leverage the agency’s global network to promote CISA’s four international strategic goals:
- Advancing operational cooperation
- Building partner capacity
- Strengthening collaboration through stakeholder engagement and outreach
- Shaping the global policy ecosystem
CISA leads the US government’s effort to understand and reduce cyber risk and has led the response to attacks such as SolarWinds. It regularly publishes alerts around security issues, vulnerabilities and exploits that can be viewed here: https://www.cisa.gov/uscert/ncas/alerts
In one of its most recent alerts, it warned that cyber threat actors continue to exploit Log4Shell in VMware Horizon and Unified Access Gateway servers to obtain access to organisations that did not apply patches or workarounds.
“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.”
Prior to her tenure at CISA, Johnson worked at the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, where her work included citizen exchanges, Fulbright scholarships, IT center deployments, and international training.