SPECIAL REPORT: U.S. government agencies cyber-security and record keeping worse than previously thought
Palm Bay, FL -- ZATZ Publishing today announced the publication of our latest Special Report on the White House email controversy: U.S. government agencies' cyber-security and record-keeping worse than previously thought.
Authored by David Gewirtz, ZATZ Editor-in-Chief and the author of Where Have All The Emails Gone?, this latest Special Report spotlights a surprising lack of government record-keeping oversight, along with critical cyber-security gaps, both revealed in last week's Government Accountability Office (GAO) audit of the National Archives and Records Administration and four key government agencies: Homeland Security, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Trade Commission, and HUD.
Without proper records management, America won't have critical records of the operation of our government. The GAO audit was provided to the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Unfortunately, while the GAO described certain record-keeping and computer management practices at these various agencies, they may not have fully understood how the practices they documented would lead to troubling security flaws at the Department of Homeland Security and Federal Trade Commission, and they certainly didn't point them out explicitly for the Committee to investigate.
Our 2,649 word Special Report explores the following issues:
- How the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) has completely abdicated responsibility for investigating records management in the U.S. government since 2000, putting all U.S. government record-keeping at risk.
- How record-keeping at the four agencies investigated by the GAO isn't all that bad by government standards, but they'd never survive the standards imposed on corporate Chief Information Officers (CIOs) by the government.
- David has also discovered two new potential cyber-security risks, this time at the Department of Homeland Security and another at the Federal Trade Commission, the government's lead agency for identity-theft protection.
"For all intents and purposes, NARA is the record management check-and-balance for the federal government," says David. "If a federal agency doesn't properly implement records management, no one will know unless NARA catches them in the act. But if NARA has abdicated its investigative mandate, then records management becomes a complete anarchy, with no oversight."
This ongoing story has reinforced once again just how important David's recommendations in Where Have All The Emails Gone? are. Those six steps may be the only path that will prevent the problems we seem to be constantly discovering from happening with future administrations.
To arrange an interview or to further discuss the disturbing issues brought up by this news, email Liz Higgins at lizhigginspr@gmail.com or call (321) 722-4620. Please include your complete contact information, including phone.
If you wish to reprint this Special Report or have David contribute an original column to your publication or broadcast, please contact Liz for possible availability.
David Gewirtz has written more than 600 articles about technology, competitiveness, and national security policy. He is the Cyberterrorism Advisor for the International Association for Counterterrorism & Security Professionals, a columnist for The Journal of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security, and has been a guest commentator for the Nieman Watchdog of the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University.
As one of America's foremost email experts, he's been able to do unprecedented forensics research. As the editor of the two leading magazines on the email technologies used at the White House, he has the expertise necessary to see and explain all sides of the issue, provide workable, non-partisan solutions, and make it understandable to everyone.
Additional resources
Where Have All The Emails Gone? is the most comprehensive analysis of White House email ever published, reads like a thriller, and ends with six very doable recommendations that can quickly and easily bring security and safety back to White House email.
The book's Web site http://www.EmailsGone.com contains a complete resource center with original documentation, source material, and forensic artifacts used in the investigation. The $19.95 book is available at http://www.amazon.com/dp/0945266200.
Library of Congress Control Number: 2007937415
ISBN (10-digit): 0-945266-20-0
ISBN (13-digit): 978-0-945266-20-4
About ZATZ Publishing
ZATZ Publishing is a leading publisher of special-interest online magazines and books for technical consumers and IT professionals. ZATZ publishes popular magazines, including OutlookPower Magazine, DominoPower Magazine, Computing Unplugged Magazine, Connected Photographer Magazine, and WebSpherePower Magazine. Together, these publications have nearly one million readers and are the leading monthly magazines in their markets.
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ZATZ, the ZATZ logo, OutlookPower, DominoPower, and WebSpherePower, Computing Unplugged, Connected Photographer, and Where Have All The Emails Gone? are trademarks or service marks of ZATZ Publishing, a unit of Component Enterprises, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
CONTACT:
Liz Higgins
(321) 722-4620
lizhigginspr@gmail.com
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