Biden’s Cyber Ambassador Urges Trump Not to Cede Ground to Russia and China in Global Tech Fight

European governments are wondering whether Trump will continue U.S. support for Ukraine and NATO in a conflict with Russia that has partially Played in cyberspace. Fick’s team had an important role Establish a process To provide rapid cyber-defense support to Ukraine’s beleaguered government.

“I was in Ukraine just before Christmas, I was in Poland, I was in Estonia, on the eastern side of NATO,” he said, adding that he “felt both a deep desire for the United States to be engaged” while recognizing that European partners have to do their part — which they, in a way, do. By, increasingly doing.”

More broadly, Fick heard “a strong desire among many allies and partners” for the United States to engage with China and Russia in technology and cyber discussions at international organizations such as the United Nations and the Group of 20.

“If the United States is not deeply involved, you’re going to see the Chinese more deeply involved, you’re going to see the Russians more deeply involved,” Fick said. “There’s a pretty wide view [globally] That the United States must engage in multilateral organizations in its own interests and in the interests of our allies and partners.”

Fick is sympathetic to Republicans who see these multilateral organizations as too slow and timid, but he wants Trump’s team to “recognize that the alternative is not to diminish the influence of these organizations; the alternative is that they become a playground for our competitors and our adversaries.”

Celebrating “A Sea Change”.

Looking back on his time as America’s cyber ambassador — which saw him spend a total of more than 200 days traveling the world on nearly 80 trips to meet with key U.S. allies and partners — Feek is proud of how his team launched an entirely new bureau at the State Department. , grew it to about 130 employees, and delivered results that he says are transforming digital diplomacy.

His greatest achievement was to launch A foreign cyber assistance fund that program will support deploying security assistance to hacked allies, subsidizing new undersea cables and training foreign diplomats on cyber issues.

The security-assistance project saw an initial test in November when Costa Rica faced another major ransomware attack. “We had people with hands on keyboards the next morning, Thanksgiving morning, that night with Costa Rican partners,” Fick said. “It’s amazing. It’s a sea change in how we do that, and it will strengthen our hand in providing support to these middle-ground states.”

Fick has also focused on preparing the foreign service for the modern world by fulfilling its mission Train at least one tech-savvy diplomat Successfully lobbied to add digital fluency to State Department criteria for every foreign embassy (237 in total) and career ambassador positions. He has helped the State balance the Pentagon in White House foreign technology discussions — “literally putting American diplomacy back to the table in the situation room on technology issues.”

And then there’s his team’s support for U.S. cyber assistance to Ukraine, from security software to satellite communications to cloud migration for critical government data — work he says offers a template for future public-private foreign aid partnerships.

A final warning

Fick shared his thoughts with Trump’s transition team on China, 5G, AI, deterrence and other cyber issues, and said there is still more to do to keep cyber diplomacy “front and center” in the state. But as he prepares to leave government, he has one key piece of advice for the incoming administration.

“Having a bias for action is essential,” he says. “We appreciate taking a decisive step to solve a problem for too long rather than taking a decisive step … That decisive step may be incomplete, but indecisiveness is a decision, and the world goes on without you.”

Put another way: In an era of rapidly evolving technology and intense geopolitical competition, huge bureaucracies like the State Department sometimes have to step up.

“The job of leaders in these large organizations,” says Fick, “is to shift the org to change a little faster than itself.”