http://fcw.com/articles/2015/09/17/legacy-it-risk.aspx
By Adam Mazmanian
FCW.com
Sep 17, 2015
The way the government buys technology can constrain efforts to protect
federal systems from cybersecurity threats, says Michael Daniel, the top
White House advisor on cybersecurity.
Federal agencies continue to rely on legacy systems that are vulnerable to
intrusions and hard to secure. "The burden of legacy in government is a
huge one," Daniel said at the Billington Cybersecurity Conference in
Washington, D.C., on Sept. 17. Government is struggling with the problem
of how to move off of old systems. "We have architectures and hardware and
software in places that is indefensible, no matter how much money and
talent we put on it. We don't have a good process for moving off," Daniel
said.
Security measures are often bolted on to older hardware, software and
operating systems, "rather than being deeply embedded in the product,"
Daniel said.
Compounding the problem are legacy acquisition methods. "We treat computer
systems as a gigantic capital investment like a building, rather than
investments you need to continually refresh," Daniel said. But moving to a
more flexible budgeting and acquisition system, to allow for revolving
funds and other more nimble financial instruments, requires new law.
"We're going to need some help from Congress. There's a very strong
resistance to making some of those shifts among a lot of folks on the
Hill," he said.
[...]
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