Brian Cute
President & Chief Executive Officer
Brian Cute is the President and Chief Executive Officer of the Global Cyber Alliance. He also served as Chief Operating Officer and Director of the Capacity & Resilience program, which seeks to democratize cybersecurity to support global social and economic growth. The program develops and deploys free resources at the grassroots level to help improve identified communities’ cybersecurity capacity and enhance their resilience to cyber risk.
Brian Cute is a respected voice in Internet governance and cybersecurity, bringing leadership experience from ICANN and the Public Interest Registry.
His background includes experience engaging with communities around the world to understand how they access the Internet and discovering what is important to them when they go online. People want to connect with others, be trustworthy, and engage in a safe environment. This experience helps advance GCA’s mission to enable communities with easy-to-use cybersecurity tools.
What brought you to GCA, and what does GCA’s mission mean to you?
My friend Leslie Daigle, who serves as GCA’s CTO and Director of the Internet Integrity program, reached out to me about working with GCA’s Capacity & Resilience program. When I learned about GCA’s mission, it resonated very strongly with me. For end users, the Internet represents both opportunity and risk. Unfortunately for many, information technology can be complex, intimidating, and inaccessible. Working with underserved and under-resourced end user communities to ensure they have the tools they need to use the Internet more securely is what we do on a global basis. It’s ambitious and necessary.
What is the greatest bit of advice a parent or mentor has given you?
“Just wait.” That advice was given to me by Bill Skidmore, the program head at my first job in the U.S. Department of Commerce. As a young lawyer, I shared with Bill that I felt my generation (born in 1963) had “missed out on history” compared to the “World War II” and “Silent” generations. In 1991, Bill replied simply, “just wait.” Since then, the Internet appeared, the world saw 9/11 and the ensuing conflicts, a near second depression in 2008, scientific breakthroughs, the arrival of genAI, and quantum computing in the offing. I think of Bill often.
Where’s your favorite place in the world?
Cape Cod, Massachusetts. I have gone there for family vacations growing up and throughout my adult years. I am now fortunate to live there full-time. There is something about the ocean that has always had a hold on me. The beauty of the Cape is special.
What was the last book you read?
“King Philip’s War The History and Legacy of America’s Forgotten Conflict” by Eric B. Schultz and Michael J. Tougias. A history of the 1670s war between a confederation of native tribes and colonists in New England.