Fergie's Tech Blog

U.S. Gov't Boosts Data Breach Monitoring

Via UPI.

The U.S. Office of Management and Budget is boosting its standards on reporting breaches of data security.

In an effort to improve the federal response to data breaches putting personal information such as Social Security numbers at risk, the OMB is eliminating the distinction between suspected and confirmed breaches for reporting purposes, GovExec.com reported Friday.

In a July 12 memorandum, Karen Evans, administrator of OMB's Electronic Government and Information Technology division, said that agency chief information officers should not hold back reporting suspected breaches, both electronic and physical, to the Homeland Security Department's computer emergency readiness team, known as US-CERT.

The memo said that all security incidents involving such information must be reported within an hour. US-CERT reporting guidelines for federal agencies already require reporting within one hour for any incidents involving unauthorized electronic or physical access to federal systems or data, GovExec.com said.

posted by Fergie @ 7/17/2006 07:15:00 PM