The US government could find more cyberintrusions as it takes a close look at its sprawling and sometimes creaky systems in the wake of massive hacks, US Chief Information Officer (CIO) Tony Scott told reporters.
“I think it’s a realistic chance and I think this is true no matter where you go. It’s not unique to the federal government,” said Scott, who spent 35 years in the private sector running systems at companies such as Microsoft Corp, Walt Disney Co and General Motors Co.
Scott was named to the federal post in February and knew from the start that stepping up cyberdefenses would be a focus.
However, the hacks at the federal hiring office that scooped up sensitive data of 22 million Americans have given his mission new momentum, Scott said in an interview in his office, where golden Mickey Mouse ears from his time at Disney and other corporate memorabilia line his shelves.
The hacks have created a political firestorm and led on Friday to the resignation of the head of the Office of Personnel Management as Americans questioned the security of government-housed data.
Scott began reviewing the status of cybersecurity at US government agencies early in his tenure.
Some were making progress, but overall, the government needed to step up the pace, he said.
The hacks at the office lit a fire under that process, he said.
A month ago, after an initial intrusion was first confirmed, Scott ordered agencies to take a series of steps in a 30-day “cybersprint” on critical security measures.
He told them to cut the number of “privileged users” that have extra administrative access to systems, require “two-factor authentication” to add an extra layer of security for passwords of those privileged users, and patch critical vulnerabilities in network operating systems.
“We said: ‘Run hard for the next 30 days and get big progress on these things. No excuses, just get it done,’” Scott said.
Those 30 days are now up and by July 20, Scott plans to publicly share the results, showing which agencies achieved the goal.
“Some will get there, and some won’t,” he said, adding that some details are to be withheld in order not to give hackers a roadmap to ongoing vulnerabilities in the government’s databases.
“There’s probably no CIO in any federal agency now who wants to be the bottom of the list,” he said.
In September, his office is to deliver broader recommendations from the review on policy, procurement and technology, some that can be knocked off quickly and some that could need US Congressional approval.
“Shame on us if we don’t also take advantage of this time to come forward comprehensively and say: ‘We need to make these other changes as well,’” Scott said.
The government may need to invest in tools that go beyond trying to prevent hacks and more quickly detect and contain threats and repair any damage, he said.
Scott’s office includes a team of private-sector tech experts created after the botched launch of the healthcare.gov Web site — professionals who he said are being deployed “surgically” in agencies to help modernize computer systems.
However, with more scrutiny and tools comes more insight into problems that might have previously been overlooked, and hackers keep developing new sophisticated ways to threaten systems.
“There’s two kinds of CIOs: Ones who have been hacked and know it, and those who have been hacked and don’t yet realize it, but the reality is, you’ve been hacked,” he said.
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