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GAO’s Information Technology & Cybersecurity Team

Posted on March 12, 2019

GAO’s workforce is organized largely by subject area, with most employees working in one of our 15 mission teams. Today we’ll be putting the spotlight on our Information Technology & Cybersecurity (ITC) team, which helps the government respond to the challenges of managing the more than $90 billion spent on federal information technology (IT) every year.

ITC recently changed its name from “Information Technology” to better reflect the significant body of work the team does on cybersecurity issues. Read on to learn more about those issues and others that ITC focuses on.

Reports

ITC’s mission is to provide insight into government IT purchases and operations, cybersecurity, and the collection and dissemination of quality information. The team’s work examines federal efforts to:

Impact

ITC’s recommendations saved taxpayers over $2.2 billion in fiscal year 2018. The team’s directors also testified at 17 congressional hearings and participated in 7 hearings with other GAO teams.

A Closer Look at an ITC Team report: Urgent Actions Are Needed to Address Cybersecurity Challenges Facing the Nation

Federal agencies and the nation’s critical infrastructures—such as energy, transportation systems, communications, and financial services—depend on information technology systems to carry out operations. So, it’s vital to public confidence and national security, prosperity, and well-being that these systems are secure.

In ITC’s recent report, the team identified 4 major cybersecurity challenges, as well as critical actions needed to address them.

 

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Figure Showing Ten Critical Actions Needed to Address Four Major Cybersecurity Challenges

 

Because of increasing cyber-based threats and ongoing security incursions, information security is one of GAO’s government-wide high-risk areas.


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