Buyout Watch: Who's Offering What
Gimme My Discount! Deals for Feds
Retirements Rise
Insufficient Insourcing Data?
Holidays Aren't Enough to Help USPS
Government's Moneyball Moment
Information security weaknesses could impact food production, GAO says
- National Journal
- March 1, 2004
- Comments
The Agriculture Department has not fully developed a program to ensure information security for its automated systems and networks, and an interruption in those systems could have a "significant adverse impact on the nation's food and agricultural production," according to a General Accounting Office (GAO) report released Monday.
The findings indicated that "significant, pervasive information-security control weaknesses exist" at the department.
Agriculture has not protected network boundaries, controlled network access, limited mainframe access or fully implemented a program to monitor access, GAO found. The agency also found weaknesses in system software, application software and personnel controls, among others.
"As a result, sensitive data -- including transactions, proprietary information ... and mission-critical data -- are at increased risk of unauthorized disclosure, modification or loss, possibly without being detected," the watchdog agency warned, recommending that the department's chief information officer correct the weaknesses.
FROM OUR SPONSORS
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
