Biography of Paul Kurtz

 At the federal level, the struggle has been complicated by new bureaucracies, clashing cultures, law and politics. At the state and local level, there is a search for federal leadership and funding, without unnecessary strings. The private sector—which owns and operates the vast majority of the critical infrastructure in the U.S—is prepared to help but needs a level playing field among peers and resists new regulation. Between all levels, information sharing is an agreed necessity, but progress has been limited.

Meanwhile, the terrorists plot. Where do we go from here? Is all homeland security local? Paul Kurtz, the executive director of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance, expertly answers these questions in his illuminating, in-depth presentation. With nearly two decades of experience in domestic and national security, he addresses key corporate security issues, including infrastructure, cyber security and counterterrorism.

Kurtz is the Executive Director of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA), which is the only public policy advocacy group comprised exclusively of security software, hardware, and service vendors addressing key cyber security issues.

Most recently, he served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Critical Infrastructure Protection on the White House's Homeland Security Council (HSC). He was responsible for developing the White House's strategy and policy for the identification, prioritization, and protection of critical physical and cyber assets across all sectors of the U.S. economy.

Prior to joining the HSC in 2003, Kurtz served on the White House's National Security Council (NSC) as Senior Director for National Security of the Office of Cyberspace Security and member of the President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, where he developed the National Security and International Cyberspace Security Cooperation section of the President's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace. Prior to becoming a Senior Director on the NSC, Kurtz served as a Director for Counterterrorism in the NSC's Office of Transnational Threats from 1999 to 2001, during the millennium terrorist threat and the 9/11 attacks.

Before joining the White House, Kurtz was a career civil servant at the State Department, serving in several bureaus and specializing in weapons of mass destruction nonproliferation policy and strategic arms control.

During his tenure at the State Department, Kurtz also served as Political Advisor to Operation Provide Comfort in Incirlik, Turkey and as Science Attaché in Vienna, Austria. Kurtz participated in several arms control inspection teams, traveling to Iraq and North Korea.

Kurtz received his bachelor's degree from Holy Cross College and his master's degree in International Public Policy from Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.