Overview

• MI5 deputy director Anne Keast-Butler was named as the first female director of Britain's Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), its signals intelligence agency.
• Keast-Butler has worked for 30 years in Britain's national security apparatus, including in senior roles at MI5.
• Her appointment comes as Western intelligence agencies focus on cyber threats from adversarial nation states like Russia and China.
• She will take over the role in May, succeeding Jeremy Fleming, and lead GCHQ's work in preventing cyber-attacks, terrorism, and espionage.
• Keast-Butler's appointment is a historic milestone as the first woman to lead GCHQ in its 100-year history.