Coordinating Security Information

A recent article in Government Computer News raised the topic of FISMA reporting, specifically describing the “pessimism” of many USG agencies over meeting the September 2012 deadline for “using continuous monitoring to meet Federal Information Security Management Act reporting requirements.” The article cites a survey of over 200 government IT professionals, conducted by RedSeal Networks, in which 55% of respondents felt they won’t be ready, or don’t know if they will be ready, by the deadline. One can certainly debate the significance of the number of agencies expressing concern over meeting the deadline, and the reasons given would likely drag the conversation to arguing over the validity of a deadline set by government for something that is far more complex than “flipping a switch.” But set that aside for the moment. More interesting is the fact that, when you look at the responses by the role of the respondents, “53 percent of security managers, administrators and auditors expected to meet the Sept. 30 deadline, while only 28 percent of CIOs and chief information security officers expected to.” Mike Lloyd, RedSeal’s CTO, said “This is an interesting finding, not what a cynic might expect.” That cynic would expect the typical (over-)confidence of an executive, the one telling folks “no problem, we’re right on track” while the IT managers, the ones actually tasked with the design, deployment and operation of relevant systems, the feverish scramble to find the right tools, the right people, and the right data to meet the reporting requirement.

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