Resources for Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA)

FISMA: Protecting Government Agencies from Hackers

www.newsfactor.com

FISMA, the Federal Information Security Management Act, mandates basic security standards for government information technology systems. It requires agencies to detect and report security vulnerabilities in computer systems, and directs them to improve the information security framework -- the blueprint for how they secure their networks.

Many agencies have yet to lock down their systems under the Federal Information Security Management Act. During the 1990s, the government transitioned from mainframe computers to networked computing, connecting federal employees to one another as well as to the public. Agencies also began to create Web sites to present information to the public and offer new ways to access services.

But the new networked government also opened up databases to hackers with malicious intent, as well as federal employees who were inclined to snoop through private data. Agencies rarely included plans to secure data or deploy applications that could monitor intrusions or detect whether employees were accessing forbidden files when they began to develop a system or network.

View the Resource

Share or bookmarklet this web page at: