CISO Lynette Sherrill outlines how the agency is using a zero trust mindset at the heart of the agency’s cybersecurity approach.
Lynette Sherrill, CISO, VA. Graphic: GovCIO Media & Research
In an environment where increased phishing attempts and ransomware threats continue to grow, federal government agencies have taken on new strategies to bolster their cyber posture. For the Department of Veterans Affairs, this is taking shape in its “Zero Trust First” strategy — a plan that outlines a robust framework that puts identity management, automation and continuous improvements at the forefront.
Heading this effort is VA CISO Lynette Sherrill, who took on the role in a permanent capacity in September. She discussed more behind the strategy, what that means for veterans, agency partners and the cybersecurity community overall.
How is VA using federal cybersecurity requirements and legislation to inform its cyber strategy?
Sherrill: For VA, we have been using the recent legislation to strengthen our cybersecurity all throughout fiscal year 2022. We made some significant advancements with deployment of endpoint detection and response capabilities.
We also implemented and…
