NSA Appoints Rob Joyce as Cyber Director

The National Security Agency (NSA) has confirmed longtime US cybersecurity official Rob Joyce as the new leader of its Cybersecurity Directorate. He most recently has been serving as the NSA's top representative in the UK, a position he has held since 2018.

Joyce will replace Anne Neuberger, who this week was appointed Deputy National Security Advisor for Cyber and Emerging Technology for the National Security Council (NSC), the incoming Biden administration announced. Neuberger had led the directorate since it was created in 2019 to bring together the NSA's offensive and defensive cyber operations. 

As its second leader, Joyce will bring to the directorate years of experience in government cybersecurity. He has previously served as senior advisor for cybersecurity strategy to the NSA director. Before then, he was special assistant to the president and cybersecurity coordinator at the NSC, where he led development and implementation of US security strategy and policy until the position was eliminated in 2018. He has also served as deputy homeland security advisor.

Joyce has previously held roles at the NSA, including chief of Tailored Access Operations (TAO) and deputy director of the Information Assurance Directorate (IAD).