Harry Coker

Harry Coker Jr. is an American lawyer and national security expert serving as the Maryland Secretary of Commerce since 2025. He previously served as National Cyber Director from 2023 to 2025 and as the executive director of the National Security Agency from 2017 to 2019.

From 2019 to 2023, Coker has worked as a senior fellow at the Auburn University McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security. A graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School, Coker was a naval officer for twenty years before joining the Central Intelligence Agency in 2000. He earned a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center and attended the Naval Postgraduate School. Coker was the director of the open source enterprise and served as the deputy director of the CIA office of public affairs. In 2019, Coker became a senior fellow at the Auburn University McCrary Institute for Cyber and Critical Infrastructure Security.

On July 17, 2023, it was reported that Coker was being considered as a potential nominee for National Cyber Director. He was formally nominated to the position on July 25, 2023. On November 15, 2023, the committee advanced his nomination by a 9–6 vote. On December 12, 2023, the United States Senate invoked cloture on his nomination by a 59–40 vote. Later that day, his nomination was confirmed by a 59–40 vote.

Coker left the Biden administration on January 20, 2025. A few days later, Maryland Governor Wes Moore nominated him as the secretary of the Maryland Department of Commerce, replacing Kevin Anderson.