Two top federal agencies just appointed new chief information security officers: NASA and the Veterans Affairs Department.
Less than two months after the last head of information security, Brian Burns, left VA for another job in the public sector, the agency named Roopangi Kadakia as the next CISO.
Prior to joining VA, Kadakia served as web services executive in NASA’s Office of the CIO.
“As we prepare for our next sprint toward our transformation goals, Ms. Kadakia’s unique experience will help us eliminate IT as a material weakness for VA, safeguard our employees’ and veterans’ data, move some of our own systems to the cloud and strengthen security and oversight of our IT assets, systems and applications, all while ensuring all employees have the privileges and resources they need to perform their jobs,” VA CIO LaVerne Council said in an email to staff announcing Kadakia’s appointment.
“Ms. Kadakia’s background with the Peace Corps, Department of Homeland Security, the World Bank, and NASA reflects a successful career focused on service, perhaps the most crucial characteristic we could find in any executive,” Council added.
Kadakia official starts her new position on July 24.
While NASA’s CIO loses a key IT professional, they’re gaining a security official.
The space agency announced Jeanette Hanna-Ruiz will be joining as NASA’s new head of information security, CIO Renee Wynn said July 19.
On Aug. 8, Hanna-Ruiz will take up the mantel of associate CIO for IT security and senior agency information security official (SAISO).
Hanna-Ruiz comes to NASA from the private sector — most recently serving as a director in Microsoft’s consulting services, including a focus on cybersecurity — though she has extensive public sector experience, as well.
She joined the Obama White House in the early days of the administration, working with the National Security staff on the Cyberspace Policy Review during the first 100 days. Hanna-Ruiz also worked with DHS and NSA’s Joint Cyber Coordination Group, spent time at DHS, DoD and the Department of Transportation and was asked to consult on cybersecurity legislation being crafted by the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
