Tony Sager
Senior VP and Chief Evangelist
Center for Internet Security
Tony Sager is a Senior VP & Chief Evangelist for the Center for Internet Security®. He is involved in a wide variety of strategic, partnership, and outreach activities. He led the work which later became known as the CIS Critical Security Controls® (CIS Controls®) – an independent, volunteer-developed, cyber defense best practices program which is used throughout the industry. Sager has led numerous other activities to develop, share, scale, and sustain effective defensive cyber practices for worldwide adoption.
In addition to his duties for CIS®, he is a volunteer in numerous cyber community service activities. He serves as an inaugural member of the DHS/CISA Cyber Safety Review Board, an advisor to the Minnesota Cyber Summit, and a member of advisory boards for several local schools and colleges. He is also a former member of the National Academy of Sciences Cyber Resilience Forum and serves on numerous national-level study groups and advisory panels.
Sager retired from the National Security Agency in 2012 after 34 years as a mathematician, computer scientist, and executive manager. As one of the Agency’s first Software Vulnerability Analysts, he helped create and lead two premier NSA cyber defense organizations (the System and Network Attack Center and the Vulnerability Analysis and Operations Group). In 2001, Sager led the release of NSA security guidance to the public and expanded NSA’s role in the development of open standards for security. Sager’s awards and commendations at NSA include the Presidential Rank Award at the Meritorious Level (twice) and the NSA Exceptional Civilian Service Award. The groups he led at NSA were recognized for mission excellence inside government and across industry with awards from numerous sources, including the SANS Institute, SC Magazine, and Government Executive Magazine.