VA OIG: FISA ACT Audit Finds Significant IT Security Deficiencies

Report Number: 23-01105-69

Each year agency program officials, chief information officers, and inspectors general must review their agencies’ information security programs and report to the Department of Homeland Security and Congress on the programs’ compliance with the Federal Information Security Modernization Act (FISMA). The OIG contracted with an independent public accounting firm, CliftonLarsonAllen LLP (CLA), to evaluate VA’s information security program for FY 2023. After assessing 45 major applications and general support systems hosted at 23 VA facilities and on the VA Enterprise Cloud, CLA concluded that VA continues to face significant challenges meeting FISMA requirements.

The audit found continuing significant deficiencies related to access, configuration management, and change management controls, as well as service continuity practices, all of which are designed to protect mission-critical systems from unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction. These deficiencies can be remedied by improving the deployment of security patches, system upgrades, and system configurations to mitigate significant security vulnerabilities and enforce a consistent process across all field offices; improving performance monitoring to ensure controls operate as intended at all facilities; communicating identified security deficiencies to mitigate significant risks; and addressing security-related issues that contributed to the information technology material weakness reported in the FY 2023 audit of VA’s consolidated financial statements.

Of CLA’s 25 recommendations, VA concurred with 15 and non-concurred with 10; some of the 25 recommendations addressed repeat deficiencies from previous FISMA reports spanning multiple years. CLA will follow up on the outstanding recommendations and evaluate the adequacy of corrective actions in the FY 2024 audit of VA’s information security program.

Read the 25 Recommendations here.

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