The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has not yet effectively implemented leading practices for information technology (IT) management. Specifically, GAO identified weaknesses in NASA's IT management practices for strategic planning, workforce planning, governance, and cybersecurity. (1) NASA has not documented its IT strategic planning processes in accordance with leading prac

Officials from Department of Defense (DOD) components identified advantages and disadvantages of the "dual-hat" leadership of the National Security Agency (NSA)/Central Security Service (CSS) and Cyber Command (CYBERCOM). Also, DOD and congressional committees have identified actions that could mitigate risks associated with ending the dual-hat leadership arrangement, such as formalizing agreemen

In GAO's survey of 24 federal agencies, the 18 agencies having high-impact systems identified cyber attacks from "nations" as the most serious and most frequently-occurring threat to the security of their systems. These agencies also noted that attacks delivered through e-mail were the most serious and frequent. During fiscal year 2014, 11 of the 18 agencies reported 2,267 incidents affecting the

The Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS) is partially, but not fully, meeting its stated system objectives: (1) <b>Intrusion detection:</b> NCPS provides DHS with a limited ability to detect potentially malicious activity entering and exiting computer networks at federal agencies. Specifically, NCPS compares network traffic to known patterns of m

Federal agencies have taken varied steps to implement workforce planning practices for cybersecurity personnel. Five of eight agencies, including the largest, the Department of Defense, have established cybersecurity workforce plans or other agencywide activities addressing cybersecurity workforce planning. However, all of the agencies GAO reviewed faced challenges determining the size of their c

Cyber-based threats to critical infrastructure and federal systems are evolving and growing. These threats can come from a variety of sources, including criminals and foreign nations, as well as hackers and disgruntled employees. These potential attackers have a variety of techniques at their disposal that can vastly expand the reach and impact of their actions. In addition, the interconnectivity

NIST has developed, and issued in August 2010, a first version of its smart grid cybersecurity guidelines. The agency developed the guidelines--for entities such as electric companies involved in implementing smart grid systems--to provide guidance on how to securely implement such systems. In doing this, NIST largely addressed key cybersecurity elements that it had planned to include in the guid

GAO identified a range of leading security practices for deploying and monitoring secure wireless networks and technologies that can help secure these networks. The leading practices include the following: (1) comprehensive policies requiring secure encryption and establishing usage restrictions, implementation practices, and access controls; (2) a risk-based approach for wireless deployment and

The goals of TIC are to secure federal agencies' external network connections, including Internet connections, and improve the government's incident response capability by reducing the number of agencies' external network connections and implementing security controls over the connections that remain. In implementing TIC, agencies could either provide their own access points by becoming an access

LANL has implemented measures to enhance its information security, but weaknesses remain in protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of information on its unclassified network. LANL has implemented a network security system that is capable of detecting potential intrusions. However, GAO found vulnerabilities in several critical areas, including (1) identifying and authenticatin