Marcus Sachs is the Senior Vice President and Chief Security Officer of the
North American Electric Reliability Corporation in Washington, D.C. where he is
responsible for the oversight of the Electricity Information Sharing and Analysis
Center (E-ISAC), and for directing security risk assessment and mitigation
initiatives to protect critical electricity infrastructure across North America. He
leads day-to-day coordination with governmental agencies and stakeholders
for analysis, response and dissemination of critical information regarding
security threats and events.
Mr. Sachs’ professional experience includes a distinguished 20 year military career in the United States
Army, two years of federal civilian service at the White House and the Department of Homeland
Security, and over thirteen years as an executive in the private sector. He has appeared on several
domestic and foreign television and radio networks as a computer security expert, has testified before
the United States Congress, and is frequently quoted by the on-line and printed media.
Mr. Sachs retired from the United States Army in 2002 after serving over 20 years as a Corps of
Engineers and systems automation officer. He specialized during the latter half of his career in computer
network operations, tactical communication systems, and the application of information technology to
the defense environment. In 1998, he was selected by the Secretary of Defense to serve with the
Defense Department’s Joint Task Force for Computer Network Defense, a small organization created to
defend the DoD’s computer networks from foreign intrusions.
In January 2002 Mr. Sachs was appointed by the President to serve concurrently on the staff of the
National Security Council as the Director for Communication Infrastructure Protection in the White
House Office of Cyberspace Security, and on the staff of the President’s Critical Infrastructure Protection
Board. The Board was created in October 2001 to coordinate critical infrastructure protection issues
across all US federal agencies in partnership with the industry sectors. In May 2003 Mr. Sachs joined the
National Cyber Security Division of the US Department of Homeland Security, where he was responsible
for developing the implementation plan for the National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace.
Prior to joining NERC, Mr. Sachs was the Vice President for National Security Policy at Verizon in
Washington, D.C. where he represented Verizon in national security and emergency preparedness
(NS/EP) coordination with Obama administration officials, the United States Congress, and the security
industry. He served on the Executive Committee of the US Communications Sector Coordinating Council,
was the Vice Chair of the Communications Information Sharing and Analysis Center, and had leadership
roles in several public/private advisory working groups and task forces. In November 2007 Mr. Sachs
was named a member of the Commission on Cyber Security for the 44th Presidency.
Mr. Sachs directed the all-volunteer SANS Internet Storm Center from 2003 – 2010 and remains actively
involved in efforts to raise cyber security awareness and to professionalize the cyber career field. He
hold degrees in Civil Engineering, Science and Technology Commercialization, Computer Science, and is
“All But Dissertation” on a Ph.D. in Public Policy. He is a registered Professional Engineer in the
Commonwealth of Virginia.