Lynette Sherrill: Hiring Skilled Cybersecurity Employees Enhances Compliance Risk Identification, Mitigation

The Department of Veterans Affairs’ chief information security officer said risk management must be paired with cybersecurity compliance so threats can be defeated early.

Speaking at the Rise8 Prodacity event, Lynette Sherrill shared that government officials must learn about the risks associated with the systems they use and added that skilled cybersecurity employees are capable of separating technical risks from cyber compliance risks. Sherrill also said the government needs to entice individuals to take up a cybersecurity career and join the government workforce.

The CISO also promoted automation in government agencies’ cybersecurity practices, GovCIO Media & Research reported.

The U.S. government has been working to help agencies employ more skilled cyber experts.

In August, the Biden administration released the National Cyber Workforce and Education Strategy, which urges the government, private sectors and civil society groups to work together to address workforce shortages. The strategy has four key goals, namely, cyber skills education transformation, cybersecurity training, national cyber workforce expansion and federal cyber workforce improvements.

The policy also requires Congress to reform policies allowing foreign workers to enhance their cyber skillsets.