National Security:
DOD Clearance Reduction and Related Issues
NSIAD-87-170BR: Published: Sep 18, 1987. Publicly Released: Sep 18, 1987.
Additional Materials:
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In response to a congressional request, GAO reviewed the status of the Department of Defense's (DOD) security clearance reduction program and its plan to reduce the backlog of periodic reinvestigations.
GAO found that: (1) the number of security investigations DOD conducted annually increased about 50 percent after 1975, which resulted in unnecessary delays in completion of investigations and reinvestigations; (2) over a 2-year period, the number of DOD and contractor employees to be reinvestigated declined from about 579,000 to about 356,000; and (3) although DOD strived to meet a 25-percent reduction in cases to be reinvestigated, as Congress required, it had not reinvestigated an estimated 300,000 individuals with top security clearances. GAO also found that: (1) of the $25 million allotted for the program, DOD spent about $14.1 million to reduce the backlog of reinvestigations, and the remainder on vehicles and program reductions; (2) the commission established by the Secretary of Defense to review DOD security policies and practices made 63 recommendations to improve security deficiencies; and (3) although 51 of the recommendations had been approved, DOD did not release an estimated $22 million needed to implement the recommendations.
Oct 9, 2020
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Aviation Cybersecurity:
FAA Should Fully Implement Key Practices to Strengthen Its Oversight of Avionics RisksGAO-21-86: Published: Oct 9, 2020. Publicly Released: Oct 9, 2020.
Sep 22, 2020
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Cybersecurity:
Clarity of Leadership Urgently Needed to Fully Implement the National StrategyGAO-20-629: Published: Sep 22, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 22, 2020.
Sep 21, 2020
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Information Security and Privacy:
HUD Needs a Major Effort to Protect Data Shared with External EntitiesGAO-20-431: Published: Sep 21, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 21, 2020.
Sep 17, 2020
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Critical Infrastructure Protection:
Treasury Needs to Improve Tracking of Financial Sector Cybersecurity Risk Mitigation EffortsGAO-20-631: Published: Sep 17, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 17, 2020.
Sep 16, 2020
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Veterans Affairs:
VA Needs to Address Persistent IT Modernization and Cybersecurity ChallengesGAO-20-719T: Published: Sep 16, 2020. Publicly Released: Sep 16, 2020.
Aug 18, 2020
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Cybersecurity:
DHS and Selected Agencies Need to Address Shortcomings in Implementation of Network Monitoring ProgramGAO-20-598: Published: Aug 18, 2020. Publicly Released: Aug 18, 2020.
May 27, 2020
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Cybersecurity:
Selected Federal Agencies Need to Coordinate on Requirements and Assessments of StatesGAO-20-123: Published: May 27, 2020. Publicly Released: May 27, 2020.
May 13, 2020
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Management Report:
Improvements Are Needed to Enhance the Internal Revenue Service's Information System Security ControlsGAO-20-411R: Published: May 13, 2020. Publicly Released: May 13, 2020.
Apr 24, 2020
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Information Security:
FCC Made Significant Progress, but Needs to Address Remaining Control Deficiencies and Improve Its ProgramGAO-20-265: Published: Mar 25, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 24, 2020.
Apr 13, 2020
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Cybersecurity:
DOD Needs to Take Decisive Actions to Improve Cyber HygieneGAO-20-241: Published: Apr 13, 2020. Publicly Released: Apr 13, 2020.
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