GAO documents state of IT security tech

• By William Jackson
• Mar 19, 2004

A General Accounting Office study of commercially available IT security products considers 18 types of tools.

Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Fla.), chairman of the House Government Reform Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census, requested the study for hearings on agency compliance with the Federal Information Security Management Act.

FISMA requires agencies to report annually on progress in implementing IT security programs. Progress to date has been disappointing, Putnam said.

GAO's study (accessible text file) does not mention specific products but evaluates the strengths and weaknesses of 18 technologies in five categories:

For access control:

Firewalls

Content management

Biometrics

Smart tokens

User rights and privileges.

For system integrity:

Antivirus software

Integrity checkers.

For cryptography:

Digital signatures and certificates

Virtual private networks.

For auditing and monitoring:

Intrusion detection systems

Intrusion prevention systems

Security event correlation tools

Computer forensics tools.

For configuration management and assurance:

Policy enforcement applications

Network management

Continuity-of-operations tools

Scanners

Patch management.

The technical discussion 'is intended to assist agencies in identifying and selecting cybersecurity technologies,' the report said. The factors to consider in effectively implementing security tools include:

Use in a layered, defense-in-depth strategy

Characteristics of an agency's IT infrastructure

Independent assessment of products

Staff training in secure implementation and use of products

Secure configuration.

To read the full report, 'Information Security: Technologies to Secure Federal Systems,' enter GAO-04-467 at www.gao.gov.