Oversight

Interior faces 'disturbing' cyber risks due to cracked passwords and vulnerable assets

Recent reports reveal the Department of Interior is not enforcing multifactor authentication for its high-value assets and has a range of other significant cybersecurity risks.

  • By Chris Riotta

How can Congress regulate AI? Erect guardrails, ensure accountability and address monopolistic power

Is a new federal agency necessary to regulate AI? Maybe.

  • By Anjana Susarla, The Conversation

Unmonitored networks put US nuclear arsenal at risk, GAO finds

A Government Accountability Office report found that the Energy Department cannot effectively monitor potential insider threats to U.S. nuclear security because department staff “have not identified the total number of DOE’s stand-alone classified networks.”

  • By Edward Graham

10 Vendors Receive Over Half of VA's IT Contracts, Drawing Lawmaker Concern

A Government Accountability Office representative told House lawmakers that Veterans Affairs’ IT obligations have been “increasingly concentrated with a small group of vendors.”

  • By Edward Graham

VA Lacks Goals to Assess Satisfaction With New EHR, Watchdog Finds

The report from the Government Accountability Office found that the absence of such goals has limited the agency’s ability to “objectively measure progress toward improving EHRM users’ satisfaction.”

  • By Edward Graham

Cost and Schedule Overruns Plague NASA's Electrified Flight Efforts, IG Finds

The agency’s Inspector General noted that, despite progress made in advancing electrified aircraft propulsion system technology, NASA is experiencing cost and scheduling challenges that it should address.

  • By Kirsten Errick

‘Continuing Significant Deficiencies’ Hamper VA’s Information Security Controls, Audit Finds

An audit released by the VA Office of Inspector General found that the department “needs to implement improved controls” to address persistent gaps in its information security program.

  • By Edward Graham

OSTP Only Tackled 1 of 8 High Risk Recommendations in Past Year, Watchdog Finds

The Office of Science and Technology Policy has seven high-risk open recommendations to address, according to a Government Accountability Office report.

  • By Kirsten Errick

Transportation Needs to Improve Cyber Policy Implementation, Watchdog Finds

The Department of Transportation should better implement its policies for established cyber roles, including improving training and role expectations, according to a recent GAO report.

  • By Kirsten Errick

2 Agencies Still Behind on Years-Old Legacy IT Recommendations, Watchdog Finds 

Despite some agencies making significant progress, the Transportation Department and the Office of Personnel Management have not fully implemented the watchdog’s prior recommendations.

  • By Kirsten Errick

NASA Still Lacks a Unified Definition of AI, Watchdog Finds

The agency has made progress on artificial intelligence management, but still has work to do to meet governmentwide requirements.

  • By Kirsten Errick

GSA’s Pilot Transactional Data is ‘Inaccurate and Unusable’, Watchdog Says

According to the agency’s Inspector General, GSA performed an inaccurate evaluation of the program when it deemed TDR a success, but in actuality, the data is unusable.

  • By Kirsten Errick

DHS Procurement Cyber Reporting Requirement Needs Clarifying, Watchdog Finds

The Government Accountability Office noted that several major acquisition programs at DHS didn’t think the requirement applied to them.

  • By Kirsten Errick

Cybersecurity Still 'High Risk' in GAO’s Book After Over 25 years

The management of the government’s IT acquisitions and operations is also on the Government Accountability Office’s biennial high risk list update this year, as it has been since 2015.

  • By Natalie Alms
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Senator Calls for Cybersecurity Audit of Law Enforcement Wireless Network

FirstNet is a cellular network built for first responders around the country, but at least one federal official told the senator’s office they had “no confidence” in the network’s security.

  • By Frank Konkel

Space Force Has a Major Satellite Oversight Problem, GAO Says

The government’s network of land-based satellite antennas is facing growing usage demands, but Space Force has not updated the system’s support operations plan since it took over control of the program in 2019.

  • By Edward Graham

VHA's $8.5M Emergency Comms System Largely Inoperable, OIG Finds

An audit conducted by VA’s Office of Inspector General found that an estimated 80% of the emergency communications systems deployed at 184 VA medical facilities are “not fully operational.”

  • By Edward Graham

OMB Failing to Set Cross-agency IT Management Goals, Report Says

Administration officials disputed some of GAO's conclusions, noting that IT goals were embedded in other management agenda targets.

  • By Chris Riotta

Labor Dept. Watchdog Urges 'Extreme Caution' on Facial Recognition

Since the start of the pandemic and an upswing in fraudulent claims in the jobless aid systems, the use of facial recognition in identity checks has spread across states, raising OIG concerns about access and privacy.

  • By Natalie Alms

IRS System Doesn’t Meet All Cloud Security Requirements, Watchdog Says

Treasury’s Inspector General found the IRS did not meet requirements like malicious code protection and timely risk mitigation.

  • By Kirsten Errick

Lawmakers, DOD Officials Note Benefits of AI to Department’s Information Networks

During a hearing on securing the Defense Department’s information networks, senators and officials described how artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities could strengthen the department’s cyber resilience.

  • By Edward Graham