Our nation’s digital capabilities have grown, but so have the threats against them.
As the new deputy director of technology and ecosystem security at the Office of the National Cyber Director (ONCD), Camille Stewart Gloster, WCL/JD ’11, takes a two-pronged approach to tackling that problem. She works to ensure both that the technologies of today and tomorrow are secure and resilient, and that education and training strategies are in place to prepare the cyber workforce for the challenges those technologies bring.
“We do a lot of work in cybersecurity focusing on securing the technology, but cybersecurity is technology, people, and doctrine all against the backdrop of an adversary,” Stewart Gloster says. “We’re not thinking about the people as much as we should.”
More than a decade of experience at the nexus of law, privacy, and cybersecurity has prepared Stewart Gloster for a brand-new role within a two-year-old office where she strives to stay ahead of a threat landscape that evolves by the day.
1990: Took her first programming class in BASIC. “My dad’s a computer scientist, so I was always on computers and tinkering around with technology.”
1995: Gathered witnesses and signatures to finalize her and her younger sister’s first contract: an allowance in exchange for good grades. “I knew I wanted to be a lawyer, so I started making my parents sign contracts for every promise.”
2003: Traveled to DC for the first time on a trip to visit her cousin. “I thought it was an interesting mix of history and activity. I got to see that there was life happening here, that it’s not just a work town.”
2004: Became a student court justice at Miami University (Ohio).
2006: Joined the Miami chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha, the first intercollegiate sorority established by African American women.
Took an antitrust class at Miami that featured a technology case, reinforcing her desire to pursue law school. “I quickly realized that I could work on or around technology as a lawyer, but I had to figure out the path for myself because there were no cyber law classes at the time.”
2010: Participated in the Washington College of Law’s Glushko-Samuelson Intellectual Property Law Clinic, one of the reasons she initially chose WCL. “It was exciting and affirming to actually do legal work rather than just learn about the law.”
Became a legal fellow on Capitol Hill, where she worked on policy for Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH) and then Congressional Black Caucus chair Emmanuel Cleaver II (D-MO). “I got kicked off my parents’ insurance while working on the Affordable Care Act, and I had ongoing [health issues] that needed to be taken care of. Watching that law come to fruition was impactful for my career and probably one of the things that pushed me into being so connected to public service.”
2011: Graduated from WCL.
Recruited by Cyveillance, a Northern Virginia–based cybersecurity firm, where she focused on its online intellectual property service before delving into cybersecurity law. “The startup environment and the breadth of the work going on at Cyveillance showed me that the complex challenges I was looking to solve as a lawyer could be coupled with my technical acumen in a way that not many people were doing.”
2012: Launched consultancy MarqueLaw PLLC to help small businesses that lacked access to legal expertise—many of them women-owned—configure their intellectual property, privacy policies, and security policies.
2015: Appointed to the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Cyber, Infrastructure, Risk, and Resilience Policy as a senior policy advisor. “I got to come back and work for [President Obama]—who I saw make meaningful change from a healthcare perspective—on the issue that I was most passionate about. And I helped stand up a new office, which I like to do, apparently.”
2016: Received a letter of recognition from President Obama for her service at DHS, including her efforts to advance the United States’ cybersecurity relationship with Israel. Also received an award for exemplary service from DHS.
2018: Landed a cybersecurity policy fellowship with New America and also began leading a project with the Transformative Cyber Innovation Lab exploring sensitive technology leakage through the courts—all while working as a cyber risk manager at Deloitte. Stewart Gloster partnered with George Mason University to develop training for federal bankruptcy judges based on her research, which is still foundational to their training. “You can’t often get everything from one job. There were issues that I wanted to work on that I could not explore in my day job. Fellowships gave me an opportunity to keep that lifelong learner mentality.”
2019: Started a new job at Google—head of security policy and election integrity for Google Play and Android—and led projects involving misinformation policy, privacy, cybersecurity, and election integrity.
2020: Began a cybersecurity fellowship at the Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs.
Cofounded #ShareTheMicInCyber, a movement that enlists allies to amplify the voices and expertise of Black cybersecurity practitioners. “There was a conversation that needed to be had, and it wasn’t just about DEI for DEI’s sake. DEI is essential in cybersecurity and national security because to understand the risk we need to understand people and the context in which they operate. #ShareTheMicInCyber showed people that they individually have a role to play and that that can catalyze broader action.”
2021: Named Microsoft’s Security Industry Changemaker of the Year.
Promoted to global head of product security strategy at Google.
2022: Named to Washingtonian’s list of the “500 most influential people” in DC.
Received a call while working from home about joining ONCD. “To be frank, I was not looking to go back into public service at the time, but when they described the scope of the role and the opportunity to help cement an office that’s vitally important to how the federal government organizes itself around the cyber mission, I couldn’t pass it up. . . . I had not seen another opportunity to advance the technology security and workforce pieces of the mission in this way.”
Began hiring to fill out her two ONCD directorates. “I need the smart people to help me do this work.”