France announces Vincent Strubel as new top cybersecurity official

The French government on Thursday named Vincent Strubel the new chief of its national cybersecurity agency.

Strubel previously spent fifteen years at ANSSI — the Agence Nationale de la Sécurité des Systèmes d’Information (the National Agency for the Security of Information Systems) — after first joining in 2005. He returns as its director general.

He does so after almost three years as the head of OSIIC — L’Opérateur des Systèmes d’Information Interministériels Classifiés (the Operator of Classified Interministerial Information Systems) — the French government entity responsible for protecting classified communications.

ANSSI’s announcement describes Strubel, who joined the body in July 2020, as having “distinguished himself [at OSIIC] during the Covid-19 pandemic by proposing innovative solutions for essential state services.”

In a statement, Strubel said: “It is an immense honor for me to return to ANSSI to take over its general management. I have the great joy of finding wonderful teams, whose know-how is unanimously recognised. I am fortunate to take up my duties with Emmanuel Naëgelen, deputy director of the agency since January 2021, at my side. Our challenges are numerous, but we will be able to meet them with the high standards and sense of general interest that have characterized the agency since its creation.”

He also warmly thanked on behalf of the entire agency his predecessor, Guillaume Poupard, who left the role in December.

“All the work accomplished in recent years has enabled the agency to open up further, to affirm its know-how and to position France as a major player in cybersecurity in Europe and around the world,” said Strubel.

“We will continue to work on a daily basis for the cyber resilience of the French people, with the competence and dedication that constitute the heart of our values.”