COVID-19 forces CISA to hire two top cybersecurity experts

CISA hired two leading cybersecurity experts to support the agency’s COVID-19 response efforts.

Cybersecurity risk is bigger than ever

According to the Cybersecurity and Infrastracture State Agency’s management, the decision comes as the pandemic made organizations more attractive for adversaries. “The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in noticeable shifts in cyber risk calculations for organizations of all sizes,” CISA Director Christopher Krebs mentioned.

This also affected the agency. “The hardware, software, and services that underpin our connected infrastructure have absolutely been tested and stressed in this telework-heavy environment”,.

He then explained that the new challenging landscape “demands an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach to bring the best and brightest minds to the front lines”.

Regarding the two experts, Krebs named them as examples of innovative leaders. So, he believes they will help the agency build up the technical capabilities and improve engagement with the industry and security researcher community.

Who are the two new experts?

Josh Corman is the co-founder of a non-profit website which brings together volunteers dedicated to improve cybersecurity in the life-saving areas. Also, he was the Director for the Cyber Statecraft Initiative at the Atlantic Council’s Brent Scowcroft Center for Strategy and Security.

Moreover, Corman was also a member of the Congressional Health Care Industry Cybersecurity Task Force. This developed a report on the state of cybersecurity in the healthcare industry. At CISA, Corman will play the role of a Visiting Researcher and will advise on CISA’s efforts supporting the COVID response. At the same time, he will provide expertise for the security of the healthcare system and support the control systems and life safety initiatives.

On the other hand, Rob Arnold will be a Senior Cybersecurity and Risk Management Advisor. He is the founder and CEO of Threat Sketch. This is a cyber risk management company that helps small organizations manage cybersecurity at the executive level.

Arnold was also the co-founder of the North Carolina Center for Cybersecurity and authoring a book. This explains cyber risk management to business executives. He serves on academic advisory boards for security research.

He will be in charge with helping CISA better understand shifts in cyber risk from COVID-related factors. Moreover, Arnold will help with the fortification of the critical infrastructure community.