Department of Veterans Affairs working to end of July timeline for CISO appointment
The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking to appoint a new permanent chief information security officer by the end of July, FedScoop understands.
Sources familiar with the hiring effort told FedScoop the agency is working to the timeline as it pushes ahead with a months-long search for an IT cybersecurity leader.
The VA has interviewed candidates for the job in recent weeks, which are understood to include acting CISO Lynette Sherrill.
The VA has sought to appoint a new chief information security officer following the departure of Paul Cunningham in February. Since his exit from the agency, the duties of CISO have been carried out on an acting basis by Enterprise Command Operations IT leader Lynette Sherrill.
Among the challenges facing the incoming CISO at the VA will be responding to concerns over the pace at which the department addresses cybersecurity concerns.
At a House committee hearing last month, the VA’s OIG highlighted that the VA’s fiscal year 2021 Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA) audit showed “limited progress”.
Giving evidence to House lawmakers in the same hearing, VA CIO Kurt DelBene said his agency was working as quickly as possible to appoint a permanent CISO.
A VA spokesperson declined to comment.
