A New CISO for NASA

The U.S. space agency has a new chief information security officer.

Jeanette Hanna-Ruiz, whose 20-year career included positions with Microsoft, University of Maryland, the White House and the departments of Transportation and Homeland Security, will begin effective Aug. 8 after being selected by NASA Chief Information Officer Renee Wynn.

She’ll have to hit the ground running. NASA’s IT efforts have come under scrutiny recently from Congress, receiving the only "F" grade in the second iteration of FITARA scorecards, as well as from internal sources.

Hanna-Ruiz’ official NASA bio is worth a read, as is her LinkedIn page. Not only is she an experienced IT security professional; she’s also lived in a monastic community with 200 monks and nuns in France, and spent time in Nepal and Bhutan.