The US Democratic National Committee (DNC) named Bob Lord as its chief security officer to reinforce the organisation's cyber defences ahead of the 2018 midterm elections.

Prior to this, Bob Lord held top technology roles at Yahoo and Twitter. 

Lord said: "Cyberattacks are an unfortunate, but very real threat to our work. I'll be working to protect my new colleagues at the DNC from the attackers who would prefer to keep us distracted from our mission of getting Democrats across the nation elected."

DNC chair Tom Perez said: "When I took this job, I made it crystal clear that our organisation's cybersecurity required immediate attention and resources.

"I'm confident Bob's skills and hard work will help protect us against the sort of cyberattacks and intrusions that are unfortunately all too common in today's age. Defense is an essential part of any game plan, and I couldn't be happier with Bob holding the line for the DNC."