Iain Lobban

Sir Iain Robert Lobban

Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the British signals intelligence

Education and career

Born in Nigeria, Lobban graduated from the

Lobban spoke of his regret over the treatment of cryptographer Alan Turing in October 2012.^[4] Turing, who committed suicide after being convicted of homosexuality, was described by Lobban as a "national asset" and said that more people like Turing were needed to face contemporary information security threats.^[4]

In November 2013 in the wake of the

fiber-optic communications, and the NSA's payment to GCHQ over £100 Million between 2009 and 2012.^[5]

It was announced in January 2014 that Lobban would stand down as GCHQ director before the end of the year.

John C. Inglis, also stood down from their posts in 2014.^[1] He formally retired on 24 October 2014.^[6]

Lobban was appointed

Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to national security.^[9]

Lobban is a supporter of

Everton F. C., and counts cricket, photography, travel and bird watching among his hobbies.^[1]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Ewen MacAskill (28 January 2014). "GCHQ head Sir Iain Lobban stands down". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c Richard J. Aldrich (June 2008). "Iain Lobban becomes Director of GCHQ". University of Warwick. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Paul Owen (7 November 2013). "Spy agency chiefs defend surveillance – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
^ ^a ^b Nick Hopkins and Richard Norton-Taylor (4 October 2012). "GCHQ chief expresses regret at treatment of Alan Turing". The Guardian. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
^ James Ball, Luke Harding and Juliette Garside (1 August 2013). "Exclusive: NSA pays £100m in secret funding for GCHQ". Retrieved 2 August 2013.
^ "Outgoing GCHQ boss defends agency activities after Snowden revelations". The Guardian. 21 October 2014. Retrieved 24 October 2014.
^ "Resources - Influence - Person - 3185 - Iain Lobban". CAAT. 14 September 2015. Retrieved 17 February 2017.
^ "Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood". The London Gazette. The London Gazette. 31 December 2005. Archived from the original on 25 September 2008. Retrieved 22 September 2008.
^ "No. 60367". The London Gazette (Supplement). 29 December 2012. p. 3.

Government offices
Preceded by Sir David Pepper	Director of GCHQ 2008–2014	Succeeded by Robert Hannigan