Cyxtera Technologies has hired Cheryl Peace, a former White House cybersecurity director who has held leadership positions within the National Security Agency and the Defense Department. Her new role will be as chief operating officer for federal government sales.
Peace will join Cyxtera Federal Group, which offers cybersecurity solutions and the company’s global data center platform to the U.S. federal government market. Before joining the company, Peace served as a senior executive with NSA, and has 30 years of managerial and technical experience across the intelligence community and DOD.
“We are thrilled to have an executive of Cheryl’s caliber joining our team,” said Greg Touhill, president of Cyxtera Federal Group. “Her experience offers a deep understanding of the complex challenges that government agencies face in securing their infrastructure and protecting their information. Cheryl’s insight will be incredibly valuable to our clients and partners.”
As the White House director for cybersecurity during the George W. Bush administration, Peace was pivotal in creating the first Department of Homeland Security National Cyber Security Division, where she coordinated with industry to align national incident responses to cyber threats. She also coordinated cybersecurity efforts between federal, state and local governments, and oversaw the President’s National Infrastructure Advisory Council and the National Security Telecommunication Advisory Council of key industry CEOs who advised the U.S. president.
Peace later served as the principal deputy director for the FBI’s National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, facilitating interagency efforts across 20 defense, intelligence and law enforcement agencies. She also worked at the Defense Information Systems Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency and served for 10 years as a major in the U.S. Air Force.
“I have been following Cyxtera since its launch and I am very excited by the company’s transformative approach to securing infrastructure,” Peace said. “I look forward to helping our government agencies modernize and secure their aging infrastructure, freeing up valuable resources to focus on the priorities of our nation.”
Peace is an award-winning government information security professional and was named one of the “Women of Influence” by the Executive Women’s Forum and CSO magazine.
Touhill recently spoke with WashingtonExec about his 2018 Market Outlook, discussing aging federal data centers, the shortfall in talented IT and cybersecurity workers, and advanced analytics.