Homeland Security Still Falling Short With IT Work
622527
GAO said the department has to work on seven key practices. It&#39;s progress so far is a &quot;work in progress,&quot; GAO says. By Eric Chabrow.
266611
The Department of Homeland Security is continuing to finish work on the controversial Real ID law despite growing criticism from states and privacy advocates
729347
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has made progress on data security since last May's laptop theft, but still needs to address a variety of shortcomings, government auditors say.
416181
For all their electronic sophistication, fingerprint scanners like those being installed by the Department of Homeland Security at airports have a major shortcoming.
380834
Gregory Garcia, the newly appointed assistant secretary for cybersecurity and telecommunications at the Department of Homeland Security, says there are a lot of cybersecurity plans afloat in Washington, but the latest one "is going to stick."
328790
Industry cyber security standards fail to reach some of the most vulnerable components of the power grid.
208670
Inspectors find weak passwords, buffer overflows and mystery modems at the Department of Homeland Security.
615614
Cyber security audits find improvement in some agencies, but viruses and worms still plague the halls of government.
592494
As information security threats have grown more lethal in the past decade, many senior executives still remain in the dark when it comes to protecting their organizations.
416606
(InfoWorld) - Fixing cybersecurity problems in the U.S. is a top priority at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, said the agency's leader, but lawmakers didn't focus on the issue during a hearing in Congress Wednesday. Cybersecurity is a "very big issue" that DHS remains concerned about, said DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff, testifying before the House of Representatives Homeland Security Committee. Chertoff didn't go into details because much of the department's cybersecurity efforts are classified, he said. "I can assure you that we are working with other elements of the federal government and giving highest priority an enhanced strategy with respect to cybersecurity," he said. Cybersecurity threats have "enormous potential to do damage to the United States in years to come," Chertoff added. Chertoff testified before the committee in a hearing titled, "Holding the Department of Homeland Security Accountable for Security Gaps." But while cybersecurity problems continue inside and outside of the U.S. government, lawmakers focused on other issues during the hearing, including the hiring of border agents, training of bomb-sniffer dogs, and the scanning of airline cargo. Just this week, the U.S. Department of Defense acknowledged a successful attack on an unclassified e-mail system earlier this year. While not focusing on cybersecurity, committee chairman Bennie Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat, said DHS needs to improve in several areas. Thompson has criticized the department's cybersecurity efforts in the past, but cybersecurity issues were not on Thompson's list of top priorities for Chertoff in the remaining 16 months of U.S. President George Bush's administration. Instead, Thompson called on Chertoff to fill vacancies at DHS, to finish regulations for container security at ports, and to implement a biometric air passenger screening program. "We owe the American people security," Thompson said. "We owe them accountability. And most importantly, we owe them freedom from fear." Other than the short Chertoff statement on cybersecurity, the issue did not come up again in more than 90 minutes of questions from lawmakers. Representative Mike Rogers, an Alabama Republican, used part of his question time to complain to Chertoff that many bomb-sniffing dogs used by DHS came from overseas. Rogers urged Chertoff to find ways to breed bomb-sniffing and cadaver dogs in the U.S. "I'm concerned that we are increasingly relying on foreign imported dogs," he said.
342863
US still lacks spies on the ground and native speakers to combat Islamic terrorists.
213621
Whatever the state of homeland security, home computer security is sorely lacking. The nation&#39;s Internet users are confused about computer security, 80 percent of their
397404
Poor information-sharing both inside and outside government is threatening homeland security, congressional investigators said Tuesday.
706051
Democrats who will take over leadership positions in Congress next month doubt that the Department of Homeland Security can achieve nationwide communications interoperability by the end of 2008. One analyst said it might take 20 years.
596445
(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has failed to take several basic steps to protect the nation's cyber infrastructure, including a year-plus delay in naming an assistant secretary for cybersecurity, lawmakers and other critics said Wednesday. Lawmakers and representatives of cybersecurity trade groups questioned why the DHS has failed to fill the high-level cybersecurity position after DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff announced plans to create the position in July 2005. The delay in hiring an assistant secretary shows a "lack of cybersecurity leadership" at the DHS, said Representative John Dingell, a Michigan Democrat, during a congressional hearing. But DHS is working hard to hire an assistant secretary for cybersecurity, and the agency has continued to make significant progress in improving cybersecurity in the past year, George Foresman, the DHS under secretary for preparedness, told the House of Representatives Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet. He spends about a quarter of his time working on cybersecurity issues, while Andy Purdy, acting director of the DHS National Cyber Security Division, spends about three quarters of his time on cybersecurity issues, Foresman said. Some potential candidates for the job have withdrawn their applications because of private work commitments, Foresman said. Still, the agency may be close to naming an assistant secretary, he said. "Had we been inactive the whole time, I think there'd be grave concern," Foresman said. "But I think we've been in overdrive." Some lawmakers and witnesses seemed to disagree. Representative Anna Eshoo, a California Democrat, said the lack of a top cybersecurity leader at DHS means the issue is not a top priority. "Simply put, we're putting ourselves in a real ditch here," she said. Congress may have to get involved in the assistant secretary's hiring, said David Powner, director of IT management issues at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), which has criticized the DHS cybersecurity effort in a series of reports. "If they can't figure it out soon, perhaps you can help them," Powner told lawmakers. A June report from GAO found that the DHS had not yet completed a plan involving public and private resources for recovery of the Internet after a major cyberattack, added Representative Ed Markey, a Massachusetts Democrat. Paul Kurtz, executive director of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance (CSIA) trade group, called on Congress to pass data breach legislation awaiting a vote on the House floor. CSIA also recommended that Congress better define the roles government agencies such as the DHS and the Department of Defense should play after a major cyberattack. "There is little strategic direction or leadership from the federal government in the area of information security," Kurtz said. "We must move beyond philosophy and statements of aspirations to defining priorities and programs." The U.S. government has the responsibility of setting priorities and coordinating response to cyberattacks, he added. "Let me be clear -- this is not a call for regulation or intervention," he said. "This is a call for leadership."
501972
They're down 28 percent from five years ago, as homeland security cases rise in priority.
709406
U.S. Sens. Joe Lieberman and Susan Collins  say too little has been done to improve "situational awareness" at the Department of Homeland Security since Hurricane Katrina.