FISMA Audit: Feds Still Extremely Vulnerable to Cyber Attack
A new report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) released on September 29 highlights the challenges that 24 federal agencies still face when it comes to applying information security policies and practices, despite throwing billions of dollars at the problem.
"Federal agencies' information and systems remain at a high risk of unauthorized access, use, disclosure modification and disruption," Gregory Wilshusen, information security issues director at GAO, says in the report.
Information Security Incidents by Category, FY 2014. Source: GAO
Most agencies continue to have weaknesses in five key areas:
• Limiting, preventing, and detecting inappropriate access to computer resources.
• Managing the configuration of software and hardware.
• Segregating duties to ensure that a single individual does not have control over all key aspects of a computer-related operation.
• Planning for continuity of operations in the event of a disaster or disruption.
• Implementing agency-wide security management programs that are critical to identifying control deficiencies, resolving problems, and managing risks on an ongoing basis.
GAO is required to periodically report such findings to Congress as part of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). FISMA requires that federal agencies develop, document, and implement an agency-wide information security program – and clearly they are struggling. As the report states:
“In prior reports, GAO and inspectors general have made hundreds of recommendations to agencies to address deficiencies in their information security controls and weaknesses in their programs, but many of these recommendations remain unimplemented.”
The report also found that implementation of FISMA has been mixed. While there has been an increase in the number of agencies who fully implemented elements of FISMA such as developing and documenting policies and procedures, other elements have fallen short – such as testing controls, security training and implementing incident response and reporting.
As the number of information security incidents affecting federal systems increase (see below), these shortcomings continue to place federal IT systems at risk.
Incidents Reported to the U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team by Federal Agencies, FY 2006 – 2014. Source: GAO.
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