[ad]<\/p>\n
Not just attempts, but 844 successful intrusions over the past two years, quite a scary statistic no?<\/p>\n
They are actually having a subcommittee hearing entitled “Hacking the Homeland”.<\/p>\n
This includes all kinds of intrusions including web site hacks, viruses, worms and other kinds of intrusion.<\/p>\n
DHS and its constituent agencies have suffered more than 800 serious computer security incidents from 2005 through 2006, including compromised agency Web sites, unchecked computer virus and worm infections, and digital intruders that were quietly transmitting stolen data out of government networks. The panel also will examine reports of system compromises that lead to “classified data spills” within DHS.<\/p>\n
House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Rep. Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) said what DHS is doing on its own networks speaks so loud that its message on the importance of securing computer systems and networks is not getting across to anybody else.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
They’ve spent a lot of money on security, perhaps in all the wrong places. I guess it’s time they hire people like us to tell them what to do eh?<\/p>\n
It’s definitely a case of “Do what I say, not what I do” – a recipe for disaster.<\/p>\n
The committee also is expected to quiz department leaders on spending such a small amount of its total information technology budget on security. According to data handed over to the committee, DHS’s chief information security officer’s budget shrank or remained stagnant over the past three years, even in the face of persistent security problems at the agency. In 2005, DHS allocated just $17.5 million for its CISO office, a figure that fell to just $15 million in FY2007.<\/p>\n
Like several other agencies this year, DHS earned a grade of “D” on meeting federal cyber-security requirements. But many critics of that grading process say the law that the marks are based upon – the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) – more accurately measures how adroitly agencies can tackle paperwork exercises, not necessarily the strength of each agency’s network and computer defenses. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I’m sure everyone is interested to hear exactly what is going on at Homeland.<\/p>\n
This story seems to have been pulled off a number of original sources too, which I find a little odd – I had to hunt a little to find another version.<\/p>\n
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