On Jan. 7, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper announced the appointment of the leadership team that will head the new Cyber Threat Intelligence Integration Center (CTIIC).

The center will be led by Director Tonya Ugoretz, a senior FBI intelligence analyst who has worked extensively with the intelligence agencies. Ugoretz will be supported by Deputy Director Maurice Bland, most recently of the NSA, and Research Director Thomas Donahue, a 30-year veteran of the Senior Intelligence Service at the CIA.

"I am confident that this capable team will work seamlessly with intelligence community and federal partners to integrate intelligence on foreign cyber threat capabilities and activities," Clapper said. "I look forward to working with them over the coming year."

The CTIIC will act as a focal point for cyber intelligence, gathering and disseminating pertinent information from bureaus and departments across the federal government, including defense and law enforcement sources.

"CTIIC will lead integrated community analysis of our cyber adversaries and support interagency efforts to develop whole-of-government opportunities against cyber threats," Clapper said.

Alejandro Mayorkas, deputy secretary at Homeland Security, welcomed the new appointments, who will be working closely with DHS's National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC).

"This partnership between the NCCIC and CTIIC is critical in our nation's efforts to protect our networks and enhance cybersecurity," he said Thursday. "The CTIIC will help DHS better understand various cyber threats and provide targeted intelligence community support to the NCCIC, which will in turn enable us to share more actionable and timely information with the private sector."

That sharing effort with the private sector will be facilitated by the NCCIC, following guidelines set forth in the recently passed Cyber Information Sharing Act (CISA).

About Aaron Boyd

Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.

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