Federal Information Security: Actions Needed to Address

United States Government Publishing Office publisher pbl distributor dst United States Government Accountability Office Accounting and Information Management Division author aut Government Organization text government publication eng GAOREPORTS Legislative Agency Publications gao legislative 2010-08-12 U.S. Government Printing Office 2000-03-29 monographic deposited born digital 14 p. GA 1.13:T-AIMD-00-135 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-00-135 P0b002ee1803a1f85 f:ai00135t DGPO 2010-08-12 2011-03-23 GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-00-135 machine generated eng fdlp REPORT GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-00-135 T-AIMD-00-135 Computer security Computer software verification and validation Information resources management Internal controls Classified information Strategic information systems planning Security classification (government documents) Testimony AIMD Federal Information Security: Actions Needed to Address Pursuant to a congressional request, GAO discussed federal information security, focusing on actions federal agencies can take immediately to strengthen their security programs as well as other actions required to make more fundamental and long-term improvements.<p/>GAO noted that: (1) federal agencies can act immediately to address federal information security weaknesses and reduce the related risks; (2) specifically, they can: (a) increase awareness; (b) ensure that existing controls are operating effectively; (c) ensure that software patches are up-to-date; (d) use automated scanning and testing tools to quickly identify problems; (e) propagate their best practices; and (f) ensure that their most common vulnerabilities are addressed; (3) none of these actions alone will ensure good security; (4) however, they take advantage of readily available information and tools and, thus, do not involve significant new resources; and (5) as a result, they are steps that can be made without delay. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-00-135/html/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-00-135.htm https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-00-135/pdf/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-00-135.pdf GAO/T-AIMD-00-135 https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/GAOREPORTS-T-AIMD-00-135 Testimony GAO/T-AIMD-00-135; Federal Information Security: Actions Needed to Address; Computer security Computer software verification and validation Information resources management Internal controls Classified information Strategic information systems planning Security classification (government documents)