FED'S COMPUTER SECURITY EFFORT GETS FAILING GRADE.Byline: Bill Hillburg Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Congress gave the federal government's computer security effort a failing grade Tuesday amid warnings that terrorists could easily play cyber-havoc with systems controlling the nation's economy, infrastructure and defenses. ``We must solve this problem and solve it quickly,'' said Rep. Stephen Horn, R-Lakewood, whose Subcommittee on Government Efficiency, Financial Management and Intergovernmental Relations gave 24 federal agencies an overall grade of F. The Social Security Administration, rated B-minus, was the top performer in Horn's third annual survey of systems security. It was lauded for employing a strong chief information officer and keeping strict control over passwords and other access to its 100,000 desktop computers, which handle 35 million client transactions each workday. The Department of Labor got a C plus, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), an independent U.S. government commission, created by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974 and charged with licensing and regulating civilian use of nuclear energy to protect the public and the environment. earned a C, and grades of D plus were given to the Department of Commerce and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), . Barely passing Ds were issued to the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services Noun 1. Health and Human Services - the United States federal department that administers all federal programs dealing with health and welfare; created in 1979 Department of Health and Human Services, HHS and the General Services Administration The General Services Administration (GSA) was established by section 101 of the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C.A. § 751). The GSA sets policy for and manages government property and records. , Environmental Protection Agency Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), independent agency of the U.S. government, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1970 to reduce and control air and water pollution, noise pollution, and radiation and to ensure the safe handling and and National Science Foundation. Failing grades were given to Defense, Justice, State, Veterans Affairs, Treasury, Energy, Interior, Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Agriculture, plus the Agency for International Development, Office of Personnel Management, Small Business Administration and the Federal Emergency Management Agency The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is the federal agency responsible for coordinating emergency planning, preparedness, risk reduction, response, and recovery. The agency works closely with state and local governments by funding emergency programs and providing technical . ``The cyber-world and the physical world are now interconnected,'' said Richard Pethia, director of the Computer Emergency Response Team at Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University, at Pittsburgh, Pa.; est. 1967 through the merger of the Carnegie Institute of Technology (founded 1900, opened 1905) and the Mellon Institute of Industrial Research (founded 1913). in Pittsburgh. He noted that reported attacks on business and government computer systems nationwide are expected to top 97,000 this year, compared with 52,000 in 2001 and only 3,700 in 1998. Pethia stressed that the majority of the incidents are linked to ``recreational hackers not intent on doing damage,'' but warned that those actions have exposed the vulnerability of government systems to terrorist attacks. Pethia said a terrorist hacker could release water from dams or shut down systems controlling the supplies of electricity and natural gas to entire states and regions. Horn and several witnesses expressed concern that Pentagon command systems and those of FEMA FEMA, n.pr See Federal Emergency Management Agency. , a key component in President George W. Bush's homeland defense strategy, both failed the subcommittee's security test. Tuesday's hearing coincided with the release of a General Accounting Office report that found ``a broad array of federal operations and assets at risk of fraud, misuses and disruption.'' |
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