Amber Simco has joined Guidehouse as an Associate Director within the firm’s Technology & Cyber practice, where she will support federal clients in the defense and security sector.
Simco brings more than a decade of federal experience in cybersecurity, information security, and risk management, including recent leadership roles at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Most recently, she served as Chief of Strategy and Planning for Threat Hunting in CISA’s Cybersecurity Division. In that role, she led and coordinated initiatives tied to threat hunting and defensive cyber operations, while contributing to agency-wide efforts involving cyber data visibility, incident response planning, and implementation work related to national cyber policy and reporting requirements. Her work included involvement in updates to the National Cyber Incident Response Plan, support for Binding Operational Directives and Emergency Directives, and contributions to Cybersecurity Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act implementation efforts.
Earlier at CISA, Simco served as Senior Advisor for Threat Hunting and as the agency’s Senior Liaison Officer to the National Security Agency, helping coordinate information sharing and joint cybersecurity efforts between the two organizations on issues affecting critical infrastructure and national security.
Before joining CISA, Simco spent nearly 12 years at the National Institutes of Health, where she held several senior cybersecurity and risk management roles. She served as Acting Chief Information Security Officer and Deputy CISO, advising agency leadership on cybersecurity strategy, overseeing major cyber programs, and managing efforts tied to high-value assets, compliance, and risk reduction. She also led cybersecurity audit and compliance work, insider threat initiatives, and biosafety-related cyber coordination efforts tied to NIH laboratory environments.
In addition to her government service, Simco serves as an Adjunct Faculty Instructor at National Intelligence University, teaching graduate-level coursework in cyber intelligence.
Her academic background includes a graduate certificate in Cyber Intelligence from National Intelligence University, an M.A. in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College, and a Master of Public Policy from the University of Maryland. She also holds multiple professional certifications in cybersecurity, contracting, and emergency medical services.
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