July 24, 2019: The National Security Agency will create a cybersecurity directorate later this year as part of a wider effort to more closely align the agency’s offensive and defensive operations, U.S. officials said.

Anne Neuberger has been tapped to lead the new directorate, slated to become operational Oct. 1. Ms. Neuberger recently oversaw NSA’s election security work leading up to and during the 2018 midterms, which saw expanded efforts from the NSA and the military’s U.S. Cyber Command to detect and deter Russian election interference and share more intelligence with other agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland Security.

In her new position, Ms. Neuberger, who worked in the private sector before joining the Defense Department and is from Brooklyn, N.Y., will be one of the highest-ranking women at the NSA since Ann Caracristi was named deputy director in 1980. Ms. Neuberger’s elevation to the helm of NSA’s cybersecurity directorate comes as more women have filled senior cybersecurity and intelligence positions across the Trump administration.

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Read more: NSA Forms Cybersecurity Directorate Under More Assertive U.S. Effort (www.wsj.com)

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