GAO Finds Data Protection Lagging

Christopher Lee

Washington Post

Despite a steady stream of embarrassing computer security breaches, many major federal agencies still are doing too little to safeguard the sensitive personal information in their possession, according to congressional investigators.

Only two of 24 agencies studied by the Government Accountability Office in a report released last week had implemented all five security measures recommended by the Office of Management and Budget to protect personal information.

The top performers included the Treasury Department and the Department of Transportation. The worst were the Small Business Administration and the National Science Foundation, neither of which had adopted any of the measures, according to Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.), one of two senators who requested the study. But officials at both agencies said yesterday that they had completed most or all of the recommended measures since GAO investigators last visited them in October.