Tuesday, December 22, 2020

Cybersecurity agency where Trump fired boss was flagged repeatedly for poor performance

"Until CISA improves the quality of its information sharing, AIS participants remain restricted in their ability to safeguard their systems and the data they process from attack, loss, or compromise." The inspector general faulted CISA for failing to have adequate staff, resources and policies in place to complete its mission, even going as far as to suggest it was weaker in cybersecurity than some of its fellow Homeland agencies.

On Sept. 30, the Inspector General's office reported that of three major Homeland Security offices audited, CISA had the lowest scores by far for information security, a remarkable irony given the agency's cybersecurity mission.

Pdf Just five days earlier, the DHS inspector general reported CISA met only the "Basic requirements' of a 2015 law passed to improve America's cyber defenses. That report strongly faulted CISA for failing to produce and distribute the sort of actionable intelligence that its cybersecurity partners need to fend off threats and attacks."CISA has made limited progress improving the overall quality of information it shares with AIS participants to effectively reduce cyber threats and protect against attacks," the inspector general warned.

"CISA's lack of progress in improving the quality of information it shares can be attributed to a number of factors, such as limited numbers of AIS participants sharing cyber indicators with CISA, delays receiving cyber threat intelligence standards, and insufficient CISA office staff.

CISA "Has developed a set of plans and guidance aimed at securing election systems for the 2020 election cycle. But, the plans do not sufficiently mitigate other potential risks to physical security, terrorism threats, or targeted violence to the election infrastructure, nor do they identify dependencies on external stakeholders that impede mission performance," the Oct. 22 report warned.

"DHS senior leadership turnover and ongoing CISA reorganization have hindered CISA's ability to enhance planning and effectively monitor its progress in securing the Nation's election infrastructure," the report said.

The inspector general also blamed CISA's own performance, declaring the agency "Has not updated other critical plans or strategic documents concerning the election infrastructure" and failed to "Include in its plans the priority actions cited" in the Homeland Security Department's 2019 security framework.
 

https://justthenews.com/politics-policy/elections/tue-cybersecurity-agency-where-trump-fired-boss-was-flagged-repeatedly 

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