Christopher Painter

painter

Christopher Painter

  • Affiliate

Biography

Christopher Painter is a globally recognized leader on cyber policy, cyber diplomacy, cybersecurity and combatting cybercrime. He has been at the vanguard of cyber issues for over 30 years, first as a federal prosecutor handling some of the most high-profile cyber cases in the U.S., then as a senior official at the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, the White House National Security Council and, finally, as the world’s first cyber diplomat at the U.S. Department of State. Among many other things, Chris is a founder of The Cyber Policy Group, has served as the President of the Global Forum on Cyber Expertise Foundation, serves on the board of the Center for Internet Security and the Public Sector Advisory Board for Palo Alto Networks and was a commissioner on the Global Commission for the Stability of Cyberspace. He is a frequent speaker on cyber issues, frequently is interviewed and quoted in the media and has testified on numerous occasions to U.S. Congressional committees. He has received a number of awards and honors including Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun, Estonia's Order of Terra Mariana, RSA Security Conference's Public Policy Award, the Attorney General’s Award for Exceptional Service and was named the Bartles World Affairs Fellow at Cornell University. He received his B.A. from Cornell University and J.D. from Stanford Law School.

In The News

Ransomware locks up digital data until a fee is paid to the hackers.
Q&As

Can Biden Do Anything to Stop Ransomware Attacks?

Christopher Painter explains why the emerging pattern of ransomware attacks needs to be addressed at a political level – both domestically and internationally – and not be treated solely as a criminal issue.
Can Biden Do Anything to Stop Ransomware Attacks?