Scott Charney is Corporate Vice President for Microsoft’s Trustworthy Computing Group. The group’s charter is to promote secure, private and reliable computing experiences for everyone. Mr. Charney and his team work with business groups throughout the company to ensure their products and services, as well as Microsoft’s own internal networks, meet company standards for privacy and security.
Mr. Charney also leads the company’s engagement with governments, industry partners and customers on important security and privacy issues, such as critical infrastructure protection, secure software development, and data protection.
In addition, Mr. Charney manages Microsoft’s Engineering Excellence Team, a group focused on developing best-of-breed engineering practices and ensuring the company complies with its own internal engineering policies.
Before joining Microsoft in 2002, Mr. Charney led PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Cybercrime Prevention and Response Practice, providing computer security services to Fortune 500 companies as well as smaller enterprises.
He previously served as Chief of the Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section (CCIPS) in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, directing the investigation and prosecution of computer hacking attacks, economic espionage cases and criminal violations of copyright and trademark laws.
Mr. Charney also served as an Assistant United States Attorney, responsible for the investigation and prosecution of organized crime, and as an Assistant District Attorney in Bronx County, New York, where he prosecuted persistent violent felony offenders and later served as Deputy Chief of the Investigations Bureau.
Mr. Charney has received numerous awards during his career, including the Justice Department’s John Marshall Award for Outstanding Legal Achievement and the Attorney General's Award for Distinguished Service.
Along the way, Mr. Charney has assisted and advised the U.S. government and others in several capacities relating to cybersecurity. He currently serves on the U.S. President’s National Security and Telecommunications Advisory Committee; was a co-chair of the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) nonpartisan Commission on Cybersecurity for the 44th Presidency; and served three years as Chair of the G8 Subgroup on High-Tech Crime.
Mr. Charney served as Vice Chair and Head of the U.S. delegation to the Ad Hoc Group of Experts on Global Cryptography Policy for the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). He was a member of the U.S. delegation to the OECD's Group of Experts on Security, Privacy and Intellectual Property Rights in the Global Information Infrastructure; and was a member of the Clinton Administration's Information Infrastructure Task Force serving on the Privacy Working Group that published principles for handling personally identifiable information.
He holds B.A. degrees in history and English from the State University of New York in Binghamton, and graduated with honors from the Syracuse University College of Law.