Maximus Federal’s Allison Patrick: Agencies Should Work to Meet 2020 Cybersecurity Goals

Allison Patrick, senior vice president at Maximus’ federal arm, has said that while cybersecurity evolved in recent years, it must keep up with increasingly sophisticated threats such as microbreaches, ransomware and browser-based attacks.

Patrick wrote in a Nextgov piece published Tuesday that agencies should focus on integrating cybersecurity into all operations as outlined by federal chief information officer and 2020 Wash100 winner Suzette Kent in her information technology agenda for this year.

According to Patrick, agencies must work to meet Kent’s cybersecurity goals which encompass matters such as identity and access management, cyber risk management, information sharing, personnel reskilling and automated continuous monitoring.

Agencies should also understand that cybersecurity encompasses all of government and not just select military operations, Patrick noted. She added that the government should mitigate reliance on legacy systems, which brings “an extra layer of difficulty” in combating emerging threats.

“Every technology project that an agency undertakes from here on out, must hold cyber as a foundational aspect,” said Patrick. “This begins with an internal culture that understands the need for it to be discussed and embedded from the onset of any project, arguably as the top priority.”