Federal Reports

The DOI has no policies or guidance specifically addressing foreign government sponsored talent recruitment programs or conflicts of commitment.

The U.S. Postal Service holds its cash in the Postal Service Fund with the Federal Reserve Bank of New York and, traditionally, has invested its excess cash in highly liquid, overnight investments (Overnight Treasuries) issued by the U.S. Department of Treasury (Treasury), where interest rate changes are more pronounced than in longer-term investments. Postal Service cash has grown from $2.3 billion in fiscal year (FY) 2013 to $19.6 billion at year-end FY 2022.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducts information security inspections to assess whether VA facilities are meeting federal security requirements. These inspections focus on four security control areas that apply to local facilities and have been selected based on their levels of risk: configuration management, contingency planning, security management, and access controls. During this inspection, the OIG found deficiencies with configuration management, security management, and access controls.Configuration management controls were deficient in vulnerability remediation, the process to identify, classify, and fix weaknesses. Without an effective vulnerability management program, opportunities for exploitation increase.The security management control deficiency was in system security planning, which is needed for authorizing a system to operate. Without a system security plan or an authorization to operate, and without requiring contractors to adhere to federal and VA security requirements, the facility cannot be sure that security controls will be implemented as required.The security management deficiencies were in network segmentation, physical access, environmental, audit and monitoring, and records management controls. Without these safeguards, breaches are more likely to occur and harder to detect, and assets are at risk of accidental or intentional destruction.The assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer concurred with all but one of the OIG’s nine recommendations. Regarding his nonconcurrence, the assistant secretary reported that the devices identified by the OIG as lacking required isolation—the finding that resulted in recommendation 4—do not meet the definition for devices subject to this requirement. However, these devices were identified by the facility as containing medical systems and therefore, per VA policy, fall under the medical device isolation architecture guidance. The OIG thus stands by its recommendation.

The VA Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducts information security inspections to assess whether VA facilities are meeting federal security requirements. They are typically conducted at selected facilities that have not been assessed in the sample for the annual audit required by the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) or at facilities that previously performed poorly. The OIG selected the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center in Alabama because it had not been previously visited as part of the annual FISMA audit.The OIG’s information security inspections focus on four security control areas that apply to local facilities and have been selected based on their levels of risk: configuration management, contingency planning, security management, and access controls. During this inspection, the OIG found deficiencies with configuration management, security management, and access controls. Deficiencies in configuration management included critical-risk vulnerabilities that VA’s Office of Information and Technology did not identify, uninstalled patches, and unscannable database servers, all of which deprive users of reliable access to information and could risk unauthorized access to, or the alteration or destruction of, critical systems. The team identified a security management weakness concerning missing or insufficiently detailed action plans to address identified vulnerabilities. Weak access controls, such as missing logs, insufficient climate controls for communications equipment, and uninstalled backup power supplies, compromised the security and maintenance of the information system and its ability to withstand power disruptions.The OIG made six recommendations to the assistant secretary for information and technology and chief information officer to improve controls at the facility because they are related to enterprise-wide information security issues similar to those identified on previous FISMA audits and information security inspections. The OIG also made two recommendations to the Tuscaloosa VA Medical Center director.