Meghan Cook has stepped in as New York’s next chief cyber officer, taking over the role from Michaela Lee, according to both of their LinkedIn profiles.
Cook most recently served as the director of the state’s Cyber Incident Response Team at the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, according to her LinkedIn.
In a LinkedIn post, Cook said that as chief cyber officer, she “will continue to champion [cyber defense] across” New York’s public, private and nonprofit sectors, as well as “further the significant and highly impactful investments Governor Kathy Hochul has made” in strengthening the state’s cyber defenses.
Lee stepped into the acting chief cyber role on February after Colin Ahern, the state’s chief cyber officer since 2022, became the state’s first director of security and intelligence. Before that, Lee served as the deputy chief cyber officer since September 2024.
“I’m very excited for Meghan to join the team! She’s spent years building real relationships with local governments across the state, and she cares about the same thing I do: making sure the services New Yorkers rely on are secure and resilient,” Lee wrote in her LinkedIn post.
“I’ll be staying on as deputy to help make this transition as smooth as possible, and looking ahead to create space for a few priorities in my life that deserve more of my attention right now, family chief among them,” she added.
Cook is the second person to serve permanently as New York’s chief cyber officer, following Ahern.
