Resources for Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)

Symantec: Gov't needs to take new cybersecurity steps

www.infoworld.com

U.S. government agencies need to take additional steps to protect against cybersecurity problems after a series of congressional hearings and reports exposed several weaknesses in 2007, representatives of Symantec said.

The government sector, including state and local governments, accounted for 26 percent of data breaches that could lead to identity theft in the first half of 2007, according to Symantec's latest Government Internet Security Threat Report, published in September. The U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) also issued about a dozen reports in the last six months criticizing federal agencies for not fully implementing GAO's cybersecurity recommendations, noted Jim Russell, Symantec's vice president for the public sector.

In addition, the House of Representatives Homeland Security Subcommittee on Emerging Threats, Cyber Security and Science and Technology hosted a series of hearings in 2007 focused on cybersecurity lapses at several government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and the State Department.

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