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Feds Pass Information Security Test - Barely

According to the government's annual agency information security reports cards, Uncle Sam has a cumulative score of 72.9 – the government's first overall passing grade. The Department of Justice climbed from a D in 2005 to an A- in 2006 and the Department of Housing and Urban Development jumped to an A+ after a D- in 2005. On the other hand, NASA fell from a B- to D- and the Department of Education fell from C- to an F. The Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Defense and five other agencies all failed for the fourth consecutive year.

The grades come from annual agency information security reports mandated by the Federal Information Security Management Act. Agencies are rated on how well they detect and react to security breaches, training, network security configurations and whether they certify and accredit their systems as secure. "We are somewhat encouraged by the slight improvement over last year's grades. However, there is still a lot of work to be done," said Liz Gasster, acting executive director of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance. Gasster added that FISMA tests are an "important first step," but "there are not nearly enough consequences for those agencies who fail to comply." The group wants lawmakers to establish "reasonable security measures" in order to minimize the likelihood of a breach.

News source: InternetNews

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