Areas of Expertise
Cybersecurity Governance and Risk Management | Cybersecurity Legal and Regulatory Strategy | AI Governance | Supply Chain and Geopolitical Security Risk | Board and Executive Communication | Corporate Security Culture | Government Relations
About Daniel
Daniel Sutherland supports Chertoff Group customers through his experiences as a senior cybersecurity official at one of the world’s most influential social media companies and at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. At Meta, he led the legal team supporting Meta’s Chief Information Security Officer, developing a thorough understanding of the global cybersecurity legal and regulatory landscape and translating that into specific tools, practices and policies that security engineering and product management teams put into place.
Recent Engagements
- Assisted a cryptocurrency firm enhance its policies and practices regarding accounts taken over by malicious actors
- Advised critical infrastructure company on developing risk registers and improving reporting to the Board of Directors
- Advised an AI startup on product strategy and commercial use cases to drive market adoption.
- Provided strategic counsel to clients on regulatory compliance, legal exposure and due diligence for investments in cybersecurity and AI firms.
- Conducted a survey of the information security practices of Am Law 100 law firms
Career Highlights
- Led the legal team supporting Meta’s Chief Information Security Officer, helping develop a mature governance, risk and compliance program; advising company leadership and the Board of Directors on cybersecurity risk management; leading tabletop exercises; and conducting internal investigations that helped set the direction for Meta’s security missions
- Helped launch the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency in 2018 and served as the agency’s first Chief Counsel, negotiating complex technology agreements; providing daily operational support to the agency’s experts in threat hunting, vulnerability management and election security; advocating the agency’s positions in litigation; drafting and negotiating legislation; and responding to audits and investigations
- Engaged in most of the major cyber incidents of the past decade, including the OPM breach, threats to election infrastructure, the SolarWinds breach, the Microsoft Exchange server attack and the epidemic of ransomware; led the response to the risks posed by Kaspersky Lab and helped create frameworks to analyze nation-state threats to the security of supply chains
- Drafted and negotiated several major pieces of cybersecurity legislation, including the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, provisions of the National Defense Authorization Act of 2020, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Act of 2018
- Appointed by President Bush in 2003 to serve as the first Officer for Civil Rights and Civil Liberties at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, advising Secretaries Ridge and Chertoff on transportation security policies, outreach to religious, ethnic and racial minority communities, watch listing, cybersecurity, immigration law and policy, accessibility of information technology and emergency management
- Served in the Senior Intelligence Service coordinating the government’s efforts to prevent violent extremism, with Wired referring to him as “one of the government’s point people on stemming the appeal of al-Qaida”
Education
University of Virginia School of Law |University of Louisville (Champion, National Debate Tournament)