Sean Kanuck is an international attorney and strategic consultant who advises governments, corporations, and entrepreneurs on the future of information technology. Sean serves as Director of the Future Conflict and Cyber Security program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies (London, UK) and Chair of the Research Advisory Group for the Global Commission on the Stability of Cyberspace (Hague, Netherlands). He has also been appointed as a Distinguished Visiting Fellow at Nanyang Technological University (Singapore), a Distinguished Fellow with the Observer Research Foundation (New Delhi, India), and an Affiliate with Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (Palo Alto, USA).
Sean served as the United States’ first National Intelligence Officer for Cyber Issues from 2011 to 2016. He came to the National Intelligence Council after a decade of experience with the Central Intelligence Agency’s Information Operations Center, the White House National Security Council, and the United States delegation to the United Nations Group of Governmental Experts on international information security. Prior to government service, Sean practiced law with Skadden Arps in New York, where he specialized in mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, and banking matters. He holds degrees from Harvard University (A.B., J.D.), the London School of Economics (M.Sc.), and the University of Oslo (LL.M.). He also proudly serves as a Trustee of the Center for Excellence in Education in McLean, Virginia.