Report: Agencies lax in protecting computer networks

The federal government has been lax in protecting computer networks used by government and businesses, according to a report scheduled for release Monday. These oversights place in danger national defense, tax collection, law enforcement and other key sectors, the General Accounting Office report found, according to a Reuters story.

"At the federal level, these risks are not being adequately addressed," the report said.

In addition, the number of security incidents addressed by Carnegie Mellon University's CERT Coordination Center has increased from 1,334 in 1993 to 4,398 during the first half of this year.

The report highlighted concerns of some experts about threats to private-sector systems that control energy, telecommunications, financial services, transportation and other critical services.

"Few reports are publicly available about the effectiveness of controls over privately controlled systems," GAO said.

Currently, there is no strategy to improve government information security, the GAO report found. If the United States is faced with a threat, the response could be "unfocused, inefficient and ineffective," wrote Jeffrey Steinhoff, the acting assistant comptroller general. He reported that Y2K could be a major test of the nation's information security.