IG finds holes in DHS's cybersecurity

[InfoSec News <alerts () infosecnews org>]

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/inspector-general-department-homeland-security-cybersecurity-100554.html

By TONY ROMM
Politico.com
12/3/13

The Department of Homeland Security is leading the charge to bolster the 
country’s porous digital defenses, but it’s also struggled this year to 
safeguard its own systems against hackers and spies, according to its top 
watchdog.

A report Monday from the DHS inspector general reiterated that the agency 
for months failed to patch its systems regularly against known 
cybersecurity threats or scan its networks consistently, in real time, to 
keep out digital malefactors.

Some at DHS even had been using an old, soon-to-be unsupported version of 
Microsoft Windows, according to the IG, whose conclusions are drawn from 
earlier studies issued throughout 2013. DHS also lagged in developing a 
more secure system to ensure the right employees are accessing the right 
data, the watchdog found.

The IG’s report card isn’t all bad for DHS, which did receive a few high 
marks. The agency, for its part, told the IG it has remedied some of the 
worst mistakes, with an eye on additional fixes next year. A spokesman 
said DHS “continues to improve and strengthen our capabilities to address” 
cyber risks.

[...]

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