Suzanne Spaulding

Director, Defending Democratic Institutions, and Senior Adviser, Homeland Security, International Security Program
Suzanne Spaulding

Suzanne Spaulding is senior adviser for homeland security and director of the Defending Democratic Institutions project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS). She also serves as a member of the Cyberspace Solarium Commission. Previously, she served as undersecretary for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), where she led the National Protection and Programs Directorate, now called the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), managing a $3 billion budget and a workforce of 18,000 that is charged with strengthening cybersecurity and protecting the nation’s critical infrastructure, including election infrastructure. Ms. Spaulding has worked in the executive branch in Republican and Democratic administrations and on both sides of the aisle in Congress. She was general counsel for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and minority staff director for the House of Representatives Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She also spent six years at the Central Intelligence Agency, where she was assistant general counsel and the legal adviser to the director’s Nonproliferation Center. She was executive director of two congressionally created commissions, on weapons of mass destruction and on terrorism. Following the attacks of 9/11, Ms. Spaulding worked with key critical infrastructure sectors as they reviewed their security posture and advised the CEOs of the Business Roundtable. In 2002, she was appointed by Governor Mark Warner of Virginia to the Secure Commonwealth Panel to advise the governor and the legislature regarding preparedness issues. She was managing partner of the Harbour Group, a principal in the Bingham Consulting Group, and of counsel to Bingham McCutchen LLP. In addition to her work at CSIS, Ms. Spaulding currently serves on a number of corporate boards and advisory boards and is a member of the Homeland Security Experts Group (HSEG).

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The Cyber Safety Review Board: Reflecting on the Past & Charting the Future

Please join the CSIS Defending Democratic Institutions Project on Monday, September 9 at 9:15 AM for a conversation on The Cyber Safety Review Board: Reflecting on the Past & Charting the Future with Robert Silvers, the Under Secretary for Policy at the Department of Homeland Security. 

Event — September 9, 2024

Audio Briefs

NATO and Cyber: Outrunning the Bear

An audio version of “NATO and Cyber: Outrunning the Bear,” a new commentary by CSIS’s Suzanne Spaulding with Mark Montgomery. This audio was generated with text-to-speech by Eleven Labs. 

Podcast Episode by Suzanne Spaulding and Mark Montgomery — July 10, 2024

Audio Briefs

NATO and Cyber: Outrunning the Bear

In the future, NATO will need an institutional platform for operational collaboration in cyber among member states and the private sector.

Commentary by Suzanne Spaulding and Mark Montgomery — July 8, 2024

Global Security Forum 2024: Gathering Strength in a Gathering Storm

Join the CSIS International Security Program for its annual Global Security Forum on April 24, 2024, featuring keynote discussions with General Charles Q. Brown, Jr., Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the Honorable Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence.

Event — April 24, 2024

Executive Education

Evolving Technologies: Innovation, Competition, and Change

This online, self-paced course focuses on the critical issues leaders must grasp as we move into a global environment increasingly reshaped by geopolitical and economic competition in high-tech manufacturing, biotechnology, security, and the unknowns of future innovation. Registration accepted on a rolling basis.

Course Date: April 8, 2024
Registration Closes: December 31, 2024

Defending Democracy: Ensuring Election Integrity in 2024

Please join the CSIS Defending Democratic Institutions project for a conversation on Ensuring Election Integrity in 2024 with Iranga Kahangama, Assistant Secretary for Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk, and Resilience at DHS.

Event — March 29, 2024

Threats Happen; Consequences Don’t Have to

It is impossible to anticipate every threat, but defense and incident response are the default approach to cybersecurity. Instead, entities should focus on a consequence-based approach to risk.

Commentary by Emily Harding and Suzanne Spaulding — July 11, 2023