Overview

Before joining the Cyber Threat Alliance (CTA), a preeminent international non-profit threat intelligence sharing organization, and serving as the organization’s first CEO, Michael had a long and distinguished career in public service — including serving as the United States ​​Cybersecurity Coordinator on the National Security Council Staff from 2012-2017.

At the White House, Michael led the implementation of national cybersecurity strategy and policy, raising the level of public and private sector cyber defenses, deterring and disrupting malicious cyber activity aimed at the U.S., and improving the ability to respond and recover from cyber incidents.

Michael’s public service provided the foundation upon which CTA has grown into a best-in-class community of private-sector cybersecurity companies, including Cisco, Palo Alto Networks, Symantec, McAfee, Fortinet, Checkpoint, and more. While many are competitors, Michael brought them together by creating a trusted community dedicated to improving the security of the entire digital ecosystem — all in just five years. Michael’s leadership successfully fostered a safe and trusting environment for companies to share threat research, intelligence, and assessments, thereby increasing the industry’s knowledge of cyber threats, decreasing the industry’s response times to attacks, and enhancing its ability to protect our global systems.

Michael serves as a member of the Aspen Institute’s Cybersecurity Group, a participant in the World Economic Forum’s Partnership Against Cybercrime, and a founding partner of the Ransomware Task Force. He was also recently recognized by Cyberscoop 50 as a winner of the Cybersecurity Visionary award (https://www.cyberscoop.com/2022-cyberscoop-50-award-winners/).

For Michael’s entire cyber career, his leadership and devoted advocacy for effective cybersecurity permeated and elevated his work. The effectiveness of CTA’s strategy is reflected in the growing number of threats shared and close collaboration among rivals, which CTA has created and sustained like no other nonprofit or association.