**GAO-07-935T**                      Published: Jun 07, 2007. Publicly Released: Jun 07, 2007.                  

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## Highlights

For many years, GAO has reported that weaknesses in information security are a widespread problem with potentially devastating consequences--such as intrusions by malicious users, compromised networks, and the theft of personally identifiable information--and has identified information security as a governmentwide high-risk issue. Concerned by reports of significant vulnerabilities in federal computer systems, Congress passed the Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA), which permanently authorized and strengthened the information security program, evaluation, and reporting requirements for federal agencies. In this testimony, GAO discusses security incidents reported at federal agencies, the continued weaknesses in information security controls at major federal agencies, agencies' progress in performing key control activities, and opportunities to enhance FISMA reporting and independent evaluations. To address these objectives, GAO analyzed agency, inspectors general (IG), and GAO issued and draft reports on information security.

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## Topics

Information Security

Access controlComputer securityData encryptionData integrityFederal agenciesInformation securityInternal controlsProgram evaluationReporting requirementsRisk assessmentRisk managementProgram implementation