The Government Accountability Office identified 42 open priority recommendations for the Department of Homeland Security in June 2023 and found that DHS implemented 16 of them, which resulted in improvements across several areas.
In a report publicly released Monday, GAO said the implemented priority recommendations led to improvements in cybersecurity and information technology management, disaster response and recovery, the National Flood Insurance Program, the Transportation Security Administration’s assessment of pipeline risks, noncitizen processing at the southwest border and the strategy to counter violent extremism, among other areas.
The congressional watchdog offered 11 new priority recommendations and called on DHS to address them, along with the remaining 26 recommendations that were identified the previous year.
Of the 37 recommendations, one calls for DHS to ensure that special agents of the U.S. Secret Service meet annual training targets.
Most of the recommendations are classified into seven areas: IT and cybersecurity; emergency preparedness and response; border security; countering violent extremism and domestic terrorism; domestic intelligence and information sharing; chemical security; and infrastructure, acquisition and management.
IT and Cybersecurity Priority Recommendations
Under the IT and cybersecurity area, GAO has eight priority recommendations for DHS to help improve service delivery and enhance key department programs.
The recommendations include implementing practices for network security planning to help the U.S. Coast Guard mitigate risks related to disruption in network availability, incorporating scheduling best practices to address schedule delays in the department’s biometric identity management system modernization program and assessing the methods used to share cyberthreat information with critical infrastructure entities.