DHS endures Capitol Hill hearings

If there is an upside to the grilling Homeland Security Department Chief Information Officer Scott Charbo endured from lawmakers at a House hearing a couple weeks ago, hopefully it will be a growing realization on Capitol Hill that it’s going to take more than a raft of policies to keep up with the mounting risk of cyberattacks on government networks. Rep. Jim Langevin (D-R.I.), chairman of the Homeland Security Committee’s Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology Subcommittee, took Charbo to task for the “systemic and pervasive” problems found in DHS’ approach to information technology security, based on a recent Government Accountability Office investigation. It is hard to not share the congressman’s “shock and disappointment” to learn that DHS, the agency charged with defending the country against cyberattacks, reported 844 cybersecurity failures in its systems in fiscal 2005 and 2006. Charbo’s explanations — that the incidents didn’t mean systems were compromised, ongoing consolidation and upgrade projects are addressing many of the vulnerabilities, and IT security spending remains on par with industry standards — offered little reassurance.
(Government Computer News story)