Liisa Past

Early Life and Education

Liisa Past was born on 1 May 1980 in Estonia. She completed her secondary education at Miina Härma Gymnasium in 1999. She later pursued higher education in political science at the University of Oslo in Norway and at Barnard College at Columbia University. She received a master's degree in communication from the University of Tartu in 2012.

Career

Past began her professional life as a journalist and communication strategist before transitioning into roles focused on national security and cyber policy. She worked as a leading analyst of State Information Systems and subsequently took on a leadership position at the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE), a NATO-affiliated organization based in Tallinn, Estonia, that specializes in cyber defense research and training.

She also served at the McCain Institute in the U.S. state of Arizona, an institution associated with policy work on democracy and international security. Additionally, she held a position in the Security and National Defense Coordination Office of Estonia's State Chancellery.

From the spring of 2021, Past served as the head of the information security department at the Information Technology and Development Center of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior (SMIT). In August 2022, she moved to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Communications, where she took on the role of head of the national cyber security department.

Focus and Approach

Throughout her career, Past has maintained a consistent focus on the intersection of cyber security, communication, and democratic governance. Her work is oriented toward the protection of human rights and democracy, reflecting a perspective that frames cyber security as inseparable from broader civil and political values.