10 Top Government Infosec Leaders for 2011

A year ago, we introduced The Influencers, which spotlighted the most influential people in government cybersecurity for 2010. Those on the 2010 list remain among the most prominent individuals in government IT security in 2011.

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For 2011, we add 10 new luminaries to the roster of The Influencers.

What makes an Influencer? It's a combination of position and know-how. Plus, each of The Influencers has demonstrated the ability to lead and collaborate, characterists of individuals who have a proven history on getting things done.

How did we choose them? We queried the GovInfoSecurity.com advisory board and other government IT security thought-leaders and experts to identify candidates, with the editors making the final decision on the 2011 lineup of The Influencers.

What differentiates this year's list from last year's lineup is the inclusion of several state IT security trendsetters as well as behind-the-scenes individuals who aren't as well known as others on the list, but have enormous sway in the government cybersecurity community.

The Influencers for 2010 included:

1. President Barack Obama
2. Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt
3. Federal CIO Vivek Kundra
4. NSA Director Keith Alexander
5. Navy CIO Robert Carey
6. State Department CISO John Streufert
7. Sen. Joseph Lieberman
8. DHS Deputy Undersecretary Philip Reitinger
9. NIST Computer Scientist Ron Ross
10. Rep. James Langevin