The Federal Trade Commission’s inspector general found that the agency faces security and cost challenges in information technology. FTC Office of the Inspector General identified the agency’s challenges in securing information systems and networks from destruction, data Loss or compromise, Andrew Katsaros, FTC inspector general, wrote in a letter posted Sept. 27.
The agency does not employ a security-embedded enterprise architecture to support risk management activities. OIG gave the agency a rating of level 3, which is below the maturity standard imposed by the Department of Homeland Security.
The inspector general office recommends FTC to maintain performance of information assets while the agency updates systems, reorganizes IT staff, address new security requirements and support missions.
Katsaros also noted FTC’s issue of escalating costs to to hire expert witnesses. The agency’s bureaus of Competition and Consumer Protection are engaging with increasingly complex cases that make it difficult to predict future costs of expert witnesses.
OIG recommends the FTC to consider utilizing an in-house workforce of expert witnesses. The audit report also includes issues that do not pose high-level challenges but still require attention: acquisition planning and contract management, impersonations of the FTC and its employees. OIG conducted the audit in accordance with the Reports Consolidation Act of 2000.
