CISA to open its first-ever international branch office

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) announced Monday that it would open its first-ever international outpost in London later this month.

“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,” CISA Director Jen Easterly said in a statement. 

“I’m thrilled for CISA’s first international Attaché Office to open in London — true operational collaboration is a global endeavor.”

CISA and other federal agencies have routinely teamed up with the United Kingdom’s top cyber authority, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), to issue joint warnings about vulnerabilities or malicious digital activity — work that has only increased since Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

The new London branch will be helmed by Julie Johnson, who previously served as a regional protective security advisor for CISA in New York. She also worked as the agency’s regional lead for federal interagency working groups.

Prior to joining the DHS cyber wing, Johnson served in a variety of roles at the State Department, including within the bureaus of Intelligence and Research, International Narcotics and Law Enforcement and Educational and Cultural Affairs, where her duties included IT center deployments and international training, according to CISA. 

Today’s announcement comes days after the White House said ​​CISA and the FBI had signed cybersecurity collaboration agreements with Saudi Arabia’s National Cybersecurity Authority. 

The two accords are meant to promote information sharing between the two countries, including efforts to boost cyber defense and best practices.