Department of State

Recent Reports

Arctic Region: Factors That Affect the Advancement of U.S. Priorities

Published: Nov 29, 2023.

Publicly Released: Nov 29, 2023.

Biodefense: National Biosurveillance Integration Center Has Taken Steps to Address Challenges, but Could Better Assess Results

Published: Nov 29, 2023.

Publicly Released: Nov 29, 2023.

China: With Nearly All U.S. Confucius Institutes Closed, Some Schools Sought Alternative Language Support

Published: Oct 30, 2023.

Publicly Released: Oct 30, 2023.

Mental Health Services: State Should Collect Ongoing Feedback to Ensure Overseas Employees' Needs Are Being Met

Published: Oct 26, 2023.

Publicly Released: Oct 26, 2023.

Human Rights: Agency Actions Needed to Address Harassment of Dissidents and Other Tactics of Transnational Repression in the U.S.

Published: Published: Oct 03, 2023..

Publicly Released: Publicly Released: Oct 03, 2023..

Cybersecurity: State Needs to Expeditiously Implement Risk Management and Other Key Practices

Published: Sep 28, 2023.

Publicly Released: Sep 28, 2023.

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Open Recommendations (120 total)

Cybersecurity: Federal Agencies Made Progress, but Need to Fully Implement Incident Response Requirements

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1 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of State	The Secretary of State should ensure that the agency fully implements all event logging requirements as directed by OMB guidance. (Recommendation 11)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Mental Health Services: State Should Collect Ongoing Feedback to Ensure Overseas Employees' Needs Are Being Met

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1 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of State	The Secretary of State should ensure that the Bureau of Medical Services' Chief Medical Officer collects ongoing feedback from overseas recipients of all State mental health services to determine whether these services are meeting their needs. (Recommendation 1)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Human Rights: Agency Actions Needed to Address Harassment of Dissidents and Other Tactics of Transnational Repression in the U.S.

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1 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of State	The Secretary of State should ensure that the Assistant Secretaries for Political-Military Affairs and Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor include steps to coordinate with and collect information on transnational repression from other agencies, such as the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, in its new transnational repression-related tools and guidance to align the arms transfer decisions-making process with the 2023 Conventional Arms Transfer Policy. (Recommendation 3)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Human Rights: Agency Actions Needed to Address Harassment of Dissidents and Other Tactics of Transnational Repression in the U.S.

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1 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of State	The Secretary of State should ensure that the Assistant Secretaries for Political-Military Affairs and Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor include steps to coordinate with and collect information on TNR from other agencies, such as the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, in its new procedures specific to Section 6 of the Arms Export Control Act. (Recommendation 4)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Cybersecurity: State Needs to Expeditiously Implement Risk Management and Other Key Practices

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1 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of State	The Secretary of State should direct the CIO to conduct bureau-level risk assessments for the 28 bureaus that owned information systems that we reviewed. (Recommendation 3)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Cybersecurity: State Needs to Expeditiously Implement Risk Management and Other Key Practices

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5 Open Recommendations

Agency Affected	Recommendation	Status
Department of State	The Secretary of State should direct the CIO to implement all components of State's Information Security Continuous Monitoring program across the department, including the continuous diagnostic and mitigation capabilities, in accordance with department policies and federal guidance. (Recommendation 8)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State	The Secretary of State should direct the Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic Security to ensure that contingency plans for all HVA systems are tested annually as required by department policies. (Recommendation 13)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State	The Secretary of State should direct the CIO to develop and maintain a department-wide risk profile that prioritizes the department's most significant risks, including the areas of exposure and threats that State identified, consistent with federal requirements. (Recommendation 1)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State	The Secretary of State should direct the CIO to assess, prioritize, and allocate available department-wide resources to address the constraints that contribute to the backlog of its assessment and authorization process and coordinate these activities with the Bureau of Budget and Planning. (Recommendation 6)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of State	The Secretary of State should direct the CIO to annually update the information system contingency plan for the one system we identified in accordance with department policies and federal guidance. (Recommendation 11)	Open When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

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