Page 81 - FCW, August 2021

Laurence “Larry” Nichols III
Digital Forensics Investigator and Cybersecurity Engineer
Oak Ridge National Laboratory
Defending the labs fighting COVID- 19. In 2020, data collection at ORNL rose significantly to support the lab’s work on pandemic response, which made it a target of cyberattackers. In partnership with the lab’s Cybersecu- rity Research Group, Nichols focused on creating new baselines, recalibrat- ing the threat and risk environment, and protecting new endpoints as lab employees shifted to working from home and many operations moved
to the cloud. His investigative work
on potential incidents and ability to coordinate with outside entities proved invaluable, and his efforts ensured that research and development at the home of the world’s largest supercomputer continued uninhibited.
Andrea Norris
Director of the Center for IT and CIO
National Institutes of Health
Driving data access. Under Norris’ leadership, NIH’s Science and Technol- ogy Research Infrastructure for Dis- covery, Experimentation and Sustain- ability (STRIDES) Initiative facilitated global access to NIH-curated data to drive COVID-19 research. She directed the use of cloud products to host a repository of next-generation sequence data that was crucial to understand- ing and responding to the current
and future pandemics. STRIDES also enabled development of a cloud-host- ed COVID Digital Pathology Reposi- tory to help the global biomedical community rapidly scale research in
the race to develop a vaccine. Nor-
ris built innovative partnerships with multiple cloud service providers so NIH-funded researchers could choose their preferred cloud partner, which ensured flexibility and encouraged participation.
Col. Marc Packler
Commander, Cyberspace Capabilities Center
U.S. Air Force
The force behind the remote workforce. Packler was the driving force behind a 21-page strategic plan to expand the Air Force’s telework capabilities during the pandemic. As a result, the service’s number of tele- workers rose from 9,000 to 437,000. He also led the Air Force’s first “bring your own approved device” initiative, which meant coordinating over 1,900 cloud requirements for the interim approval to test and authority to oper- ate. In addition, Packler established a daily battle rhythm to provide IT and cyber weapon system updates across the Air Force. More than 200 attend- ees participated regularly, including up to a dozen general officers and Senior Executive Service members.
Victoria Yan Pillitteri
Computer Scientist and FISMA Project Leader
National Institute of Standards and Technology
Absolutely key to SP 800-53. Pillit- teri’s leadership, technical excellence and superior coordination of a multi- agency team of cybersecurity and pri- vacy professionals resulted in a critical update to NIST’s flagship cybersecurity
guide, Special Publication 800-53. The update contains state-of-the-practice, outcome-based safeguards and coun- termeasures, including controls for cyber resiliency, supply chain protec- tion, security engineering and protec- tion against advanced cyberthreats. Throughout the process, Pillitteri suc- cessfully navigated a dynamic policy and technology landscape and demon- strated a rare combination of technical and business acumen. Thanks to her leadership and expertise, this historic update provides world-class security and privacy controls for federal infor- mation systems and is the foundation for protecting agencies from cyberattacks.
Laura Prietula
Deputy Director, Veterans Experience Office, Multi-ChannelTechnology Directorate
Department of Veterans Affairs
Creating connections. In 2020, Prietula took on many high-priority initiatives in response to the pandem- ic while also serving as acting director of MCT. She helped a joint task force coordinate COVID-19-related commu- nications within VA and to veterans via web, text, email, phone and paper. She leveraged the VEText platform
to reach over 8 million veterans with guidance on finding COVID-19-related information on the VA’s website and accessing telehealth services and virtual mental health care. She also supported the activation of VA’s rarely used fourth mission, which involves sharing resources and facilities in times of national emergency, by mak- ing VA hospital beds available for the care of non-veterans.
Laurence “Larry” Andrea Norris Nichols III
Col. Marc Packler
Victoria Yan Laura Prietula Pillitteri
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