http://www.hstoday.us/single-article/despite-progress-in-securing-key-fdic-financial-systems-weaknesses-remain-audit-finds/01788f2cf606f9c2585979bb585f8153.html
Despite Progress in Securing Key FDIC Financial Systems, Weaknesses Remain, Audit Finds By: Homeland Security Today Staff 07/22/2014 ( 7:46am) [image: Bookmark and Share] <http://www.addthis.com/bookmark.php?v=250&pub=xa-4a8ac57416db70f7> The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has implemented numerous information security controls that are intended to secure its key financial systems, but “weaknesses place the confidentiality, integrity and availability of financial systems and information at unnecessary risk,” concluded a recent audit by the Government Accountability Office <http://www.gao.gov/assets/670/664840.pdf> (GAO). “During 2013, the corporation implemented 28 of the 39 open GAO recommendations pertaining to previously-reported security weaknesses that were unaddressed as of December 31, 2012,” GAO’s audit report to Congress stated. According to GAO, “FDIC had not fully implemented controls for identifying and authenticating the identity of users, restricting access to sensitive systems and data, encrypting sensitive data, completing background reinvestigations for employees and auditing and monitoring system access.” GAO said “An underlying reason for many of these weaknesses is that FDIC did not fully or consistently implement aspects of its information security program.” Specifically, GAO found that FDIC did not: - Fully document and implement information security controls; - Ensure that employees and contractors received security awareness training; - Conduct ongoing assessments of security controls for all systems; and - Remediate agency identified weaknesses in a timely manner. “These weaknesses individually or collectively do not constitute either a material weakness or a significant deficiency for financial reporting purposes,” GAO reported. “Nevertheless, unless FDIC takes further steps to mitigate these weaknesses, the corporation's sensitive financial information and resources will remain exposed to unnecessary risk of inadvertent or deliberate misuse, improper modification, unauthorized disclosure or destruction. Because FDIC has responsibility for enforcing banking laws, regulating FDIC insured financial institutions and protecting depositors, “the importance of FDIC's work [and] effective information security controls are essential to ensure that the corporation's systems and information are adequately protected from inadvertent or deliberate misuse, improper modification, unauthorized disclosure or destruction,” GAO stressed. GAO “recommended four actions for FDIC to enhance its information security management program.” FDIC concurred with GAO's recommendations. In a separate report with limited distribution, GAO recommended FDIC take 21 specific actions to address weaknesses in its identified security controls. __._,_.___ ------------------------------ Posted by: "Beowulf" <[email protected]> ------------------------------ Visit Your Group <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/grendelreport/info;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZHBkNDg1BF9TAzk3MzU5NzE0BGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDdnRsBHNsawN2Z2hwBHN0aW1lAzE0MDYwNDM4OTc-> [image: Yahoo! Groups] <https://groups.yahoo.com/neo;_ylc=X3oDMTJlYzE0MjZxBF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycElkAzIwMTk0ODA2BGdycHNwSWQDMTcwNTMyMzY2NwRzZWMDZnRyBHNsawNnZnAEc3RpbWUDMTQwNjA0Mzg5Nw--> • Privacy <https://info.yahoo.com/privacy/us/yahoo/groups/details.html> • Unsubscribe <[email protected]?subject=Unsubscribe> • Terms of Use <https://info.yahoo.com/legal/us/yahoo/utos/terms/> __,_._,___ -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum * Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/ * It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls. * Read the latest breaking news, and more. --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "PoliticalForum" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
