Dr. Tim Maurer is a senior fellow in Carnegie’s Technology and International Affairs program. From 2021-2023, he served in the Biden-Harris administration as senior counselor for cybersecurity and emerging technology to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro N. Mayorkas, and as director for technology and democracy at the White House National Security Council.

At the White House, he co-chaired the U.S./EU Trade and Technology Council Working Group on Data Governance and Technology Platforms and was responsible for the administration’s ‘Advancing Technology for Democracy’ agenda, highlighted by President Biden at the second Summit for Democracy. This included strengthening Internet freedom, especially during the 2022 protests in Iran, countering the misuse of technology, such as commercial spyware, and shaping artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies in line with democratic principles and respect for human rights. At DHS, he advised the secretary on cyber and tech policy, helped shape and execute the secretary’s vision for the department’s cybersecurity work across its components, and coordinated related departmental activities, including the response to the Colonial Pipeline incident and preparations ahead of Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine.

Before joining the U.S. government, he was director of Carnegie’s Cyber Policy Initiative and a senior fellow. In 2018, Cambridge University Press published his book Cyber Mercenaries: The State, Hackers, and Power, a comprehensive analysis examining proxy relationships between states and hackers. Prior to joining Carnegie, Maurer was the head of research of New America’s Cybersecurity Initiative and spent several years working with refugees and in the humanitarian field, including with the United Nations in Rwanda, Geneva, and New York. As part of his policy engagement, he regularly engages with governments, industry, and civil society. His work has been published by the Washington Post, Foreign Policy, CNN, Slate, Lawfare, Jane’s Intelligence Review, TIME, and he has appeared on BBC World Service, Al Jazeera, and Bloomberg.

He is a mentor for first generation students through Harvard University’s First Generation Mentorship Program. He was a member of the Biden-Harris National Security and Foreign Policy transition team.