Christopher Painter

Former U.S. State Department Cyber Diplomat
Founding Partner, The Cyber Policy Group

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 Founding Partner 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 also a non-resident Senior Advisor at the Center for Strategic and International Studies and an Associate at Chatham House. 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.