State Department to Form New Cyber Office to Face Proliferating Global Challenges

Secretary of State Anthony Blinken announced a new bureau of cyberspace and digital policy to be led by a Senate-confirmed ambassador-at-large and a new, separate special envoy for critical and emerging technology. Both positions will report directly to Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman for at least the first year, according to Secretary Blinken's speech at the Foreign Service Institute. The changes are the latest in a series of reshufflings at the State Department over at least the past three presidential administrations designed to better respond to proliferating and evolving international cybersecurity problems. Those include state-sponsored intrusions of US government networks, theft of intellectual property by Chinese citizens and interference in US elections from Russia and elsewhere. The new structure is meant to reflect Blinken’s view that the US has entered a “fundamentally new era in global affairs” where 21st-century challenges like climate change and emerging technology are at the forefront of international cooperation and competition with allies and adversaries alike, said a senior State Department official.