The CHERTOFF Group
- Team
- The Honorable Jayson P. Ahern
- The Honorable Charles E. Allen
- Larry Castro
- The Honorable Michael Chertoff
- The Honorable Jay M. Cohen
- Nathaniel T. G. Fogg
- General Michael V. Hayden
- Graham Love
- William P. Marshall
- The Honorable Jeffrey W. Runge, MD, FACEP
- The Honorable Paul A. Schneider
- Dr. Gary M. Shiffman
- Chad C. Sweet
- Sir David Veness
- Dr. J. Bennet Waters
- Brian M. White
- Board of Advisors
Larry Castro
Managing Director
Areas of Focus:
- Information assurance and cyber security
- Federal, state and local government information sharing
- Intelligence support for crisis and special event management
- General intelligence community matters
Previous Government:
- National Security Agency, 1965 – 2009
- United States Army, 1964 – 1967
At the National Security Agency (NSA), Larry Castro served as the NSA/Central Security Service Representative to the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a post he held since the Department’s creation in March 2003. He served concurrently as NSA’s Coordinator for Homeland Security Support. In this latter role, Mr. Castro led the development of the Agency’s Homeland Security Support Strategy, which complements and fully supports the National Strategy for Homeland Security and provides a framework for the delivery of NSA products, services and capabilities to organizations involved in the security of the United States homeland. Mr. Castro was also responsible for providing Signals Intelligence (SIGINT), Information Assurance (IA) and Computer Network Operations advice to the Secretary and other senior leaders within DHS, and for leading the efforts of other NSA staff assigned to provide cryptologic support to DHS operating components.
Serving for more than four decades, Mr. Castro was initially assigned to NSA in 1965 as a Second Lieutenant in the Army Security Agency and converted to civilian status in 1967. During his career, he served in the Agency’s Research and Engineering, Signals Intelligence, and Information Assurance organizations. His assignments included Chief of Research and Development in the National Computer Security Center, as well as a development tour within the office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Communications, Command and Control, and Intelligence, ASD (C3I). Immediately prior to being designated as NSA’s Homeland Security Support Coordinator in October 2001, Mr. Castro led the Defensive Information Operations Group within NSA’s Information Assurance Directorate.
At the Chertoff Group, Mr. Castro will focus on information assurance and cyber security; information sharing across federal, state and local governments; intelligence support for crises and special events; and general intelligence community matters. “Today, business and government live on the net,” he says. “Their ability to be successful requires operating in a trusted environment while maintaining the delicate balance between effective information sharing and defense-in-depth.”
Mr. Castro earned Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the degree of Engineer from George Washington University. He is also a graduate of the Infantry Basic Officers Course, the Army Security Agency Basic Officers Course, the National War College and the MIT Seminar XXI Program in Foreign Politics and National Interest. Mr. Castro was designated as an Intelligence Fellow in 1994 and was awarded the NSA Meritorious Civilian Service Award, the NSA Exceptional Civilian Service Award, and the Meritorious Executive Presidential Rank Award twice (1997 and 2002). He was appointed as an Adjunct Faculty Member of the US Army War College in 2008.
A native of New York, Mr. Castro resides in Arnold, MD with his wife Trisha. They have three adult children and three grandchildren.
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