VA emphasizes IT protection
The Veterans Affairs Department stood down its computer systems this month to stress the importance of security awareness at the federal government's largest civilian agency.
The Veterans Affairs Department stood down its computer systems this month to stress the importance of security awareness at the federal government's largest civilian agency.
The department's 222,000 employees attended a training session that included a closed-circuit broadcast to all VA facilities, acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Hershel W. Gober said.
Future evaluations will include a rating of supervisors' performance on computer security issues, he said.
'Computer security needs to become embedded within the culture of VA,' said Edward F. Meagher, Gober's special assistant for information technology.
Meagher is awaiting Senate confirmation on his nomination to become VA's deputy assistant secretary for IT.
In September, VA came under fire from the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations after the department's inspector general revealed that a hired security team had accessed VA systems and viewed sensitive information [GCN, Oct. 2, Page 1]. Since the fake attacks more than a year ago, the department has been working to revamp its security programs.
'Patricia Daukantas, Tony Lee Orr and William Jackson
The Veterans Affairs Department stood down its computer systems this month to stress the importance of security awareness at the federal government's largest civilian agency.
The department's 222,000 employees attended a training session that included a closed-circuit broadcast to all VA facilities, acting Veterans Affairs Secretary Hershel W. Gober said.
Future evaluations will include a rating of supervisors' performance on computer security issues, he said.
'Computer security needs to become embedded within the culture of VA,' said Edward F. Meagher, Gober's special assistant for information technology.
Meagher is awaiting Senate confirmation on his nomination to become VA's deputy assistant secretary for IT.
In September, VA came under fire from the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations after the department's inspector general revealed that a hired security team had accessed VA systems and viewed sensitive information [GCN, Oct. 2, Page 1]. Since the fake attacks more than a year ago, the department has been working to revamp its security programs.
'Patricia Daukantas, Tony Lee Orr and William Jackson
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