UK Appoints MI5 Deputy As First Woman Cyber Spy Chief

The UK appointed Anne Keast-Butler as the first female head of its cyber-spying agency GCHQ.

Currently deputy director general of Britain’s domestic intelligence service, MI5, Keast-Butler will take up her new post in May, GCHQ said on Tuesday in a statement. She will replace outgoing director Sir Jeremy Fleming, who held the post for six years and said in January that he planned to step down.

Her appointment comes at a sensitive time as the US and its allies contend with the fallout of a series of intelligence leaks that have emerged online in recent days. She brings to the role 30 years of experience working in national security, and was most recently responsible for operational, investigative and protective security work at MI5, GCHQ said.

Giving some insight into the work she will be undertaking at the British government’s “listening post,” Keast-Butler said the agency in the past year has “contributed vital intelligence to shape the West’s response to the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine; helped disrupt terrorist plots; and worked tirelessly to tackle the ongoing threat of ransom-ware, the impact of which costs the UK dearly.”

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