Audit Division 20-057 April 2020

Office of the Inspector General

U.S. Department of Justice

OVERSIGHT ★ INTEGRITY ★ GUIDANCE

Audit of the Justice Management 

Division’s Personnel Accountability 

and Assessment System Pursuant 

to the Federal Information Security 

Modernization Act of 2014 Fiscal 

Year 2019
i

Commentary and Summary

Audit of the Justice Management Division’s Personnel Accountability and 

Assessment System Pursuant to the Federal Information Security 

Modernization Act of 2014 Fiscal Year 2019

Objectives

The objectives of this audit were to determine whether 

the Justice Management Division’s (JMD) Personnel 

Accountability and Assessment System’s (PAAS) security 

program and practices were consistent with the 

requirements of the Federal Information Security 

Modernization Act (FISMA). In addition, the audit was 

designed to perform a vulnerability assessment of PAAS

and evaluate selected system security controls.

Results in Brief

The audit did not identify any weaknesses in the control 

areas in JMD’s PAAS that resulted in a finding other than 

those deficiencies that were identified in JMD’s 

Information Security Program. These findings and 

subsequent recommendations are reported in the Audit 

of the Justice Management Division’s Information 

Security Program Pursuant to the FISMA of 2014, Fiscal 

Year 2019.

Recommendations

This audit provides no recommendations for improving 

JMD’s PAAS.

Public Release

The OIG is publicly releasing this Commentary and 

Summary of the report rather than the full report itself 

because Inspectors General are required by FISMA to 

take appropriate steps to ensure the protection of 

information that, if disclosed, may adversely affect 

information security. Such protections shall be 

commensurate with the risk.

Audit Approach

KPMG LLP conducted this performance audit of JMD’s 

PAAS under the direction of the Department of Justice 

Office of the Inspector General (OIG) and in accordance 

with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards 

(GAGAS) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB)

reporting requirements. The OIG reviewed KPMG LLP's 

report and related documentation for compliance with 

GAGAS. The OIG’s review was not intended to enable 

the OIG to make a conclusion about the effectiveness of 

JMD’s information security controls. KPMG LLP is 

responsible for the attached auditors' report dated 

November 21, 2019, and the conclusions expressed in 

the report. The OIG’s review disclosed no instances 

where KPMG LLP did not comply, in all material respects, 

with GAGAS and OMB reporting requirements.

Background

FISMA was passed by Congress and signed into law by 

the President in 2014. FISMA assigns responsibilities to 

federal agencies, the National Institute of Standards and 

Technology (NIST), and OMB to strengthen federal 

information system security. This includes directing 

NIST to develop standards and guidelines for ensuring 

the effectiveness of information security controls over 

information systems that support federal agencies’ 

operations and assets, and requiring the head of each 

agency to implement policies and procedures to costeffectively reduce risks to an acceptable level.

Annually, agency Inspectors General are required to 

either perform an independent evaluation or contract an 

independent external auditor to perform an evaluation of 

the agency’s information security program and practices 

to ensure the effectiveness of the program and 

practices. Each evaluation must include: (1) testing the 

effectiveness of information security policies, 

procedures, and practices of a representative subset of 

the agency’s information systems; (2) an assessment 

(based on the results of the testing) of compliance with 

FISMA; and (3) separate representations, as 

appropriate, regarding information security related to 

national security systems.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE OFFICE OF THE INSPECTOR GENERAL

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

 

Also at Oversight.gov

The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ OIG) is a 

statutorily created independent entity whose mission is to detect and deter 

waste, fraud, abuse, and misconduct in the Department of Justice, and to 

promote economy and efficiency in the Department’s operations.

To report allegations of waste, fraud, abuse, or misconduct regarding DOJ 

programs, employees, contractors, grants, or contracts please visit or call the

DOJ OIG Hotline at oig.justice.gov/hotline or (800) 869-4499.

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