WASHINGTON – Today, Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) highlighted a Fiscal Year 2012 annual report by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that evaluates implementation by federal agencies of the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). According to OMB, the report assesses key areas of government-wide progress, outlines mechanisms to improve government-wide information technology security and privacy programs, and provides an update of individual agency implementation status.
“Federal agencies need to fully implement meaningful security programs that can withstand the serious cyber challenges we face today and will face for the foreseeable future,” said Chairman Carper. “I am encouraged to learn about the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) outstanding implementation and maintenance of its information security programs in this report. Moreover, I commend DHS, the Office of Management and Budget, the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Security Council, and others for their ongoing efforts to help struggling federal agencies improve their information security management. While a number of agencies are clearly on the right path, more steps need to be taken to enhance the overall federal government’s information security management. That’s why it is critical that we update FISMA as part of a comprehensive cybersecurity bill. Given the growing cyber threats that America faces, I am now more determined than ever to put in place a comprehensive cyber policy to protect our nation, its people, its critical infrastructure, and its economy. I will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate, especially Chairman Rockefeller, Chairwoman Feinstein, and Ranking Member Coburn, as well as my colleagues in the House, as we seek to build on the President’s Executive Order and bolster our nation’s cybersecurity efforts.”