The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency has welcomed industry cybersecurity professionals Chris Hughes and Michelle Hook as inaugural CISA Cyber Innovation Fellows.
CISA established the Cyber Innovation Fellows Initiative in 2022 to bring in cyber experts from the private sector and allow them to work with the agency’s technical teams to help advance cyber defense efforts, CISA Director Jen Easterly wrote in a blog post published Monday.
Hughes, chief information security officer at Aquia, will serve as a cloud and application security expert within CISA’s cybersecurity division and will help develop test automation, design security into the software supply chain and evaluate and mature other cyber capabilities for the agency.
Hook, head of cyberthreat intelligence at CLS International Bank, will advise CISA on the development of a cyberthreat intelligence strategy, roadmap, vision and implementation plan. As part of the cybersecurity division, she will also support outreach and engagement initiatives and facilitate industry partnerships.
CISA expects more Fellows to join in the coming months to start their part-time work in the areas of cyber operations planning, zero trust, cloud security, risk analysis and software bill of materials development, 2023 Wash100 awardee Easterly reported.
