The Government Accountability Office has urged the Department of State to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of federal agencies’ initiatives to build a global anti-cybercrime capacity.
In a report published Wednesday, the government watchdog disclosed the mutual challenges identified by international governments together with the U.S. Departments of State, Justice, and Homeland Security in fighting global cybercrime.
The American agencies launched legal, strategic, communication and training activities to help international partners strengthen their IT defense infrastructure. Their efforts include international treaties against online crimes, as well as a regional forensics training center.
U.S. and allied officials enumerated impediments to their initiatives, such as unclear parameters of cybercrime, lack of resources and experts to provide assistance, and difficulty in retaining trained talent.
However, GAO noticed the absence of an evaluation process to review the impact of their collaborative efforts. Since the State Department has the authority to provide financial assistance for capacity building among allies, GAO recommended that the agency spearhead the impact assessment.
The State Department agreed with GAO and will look into assigning the comprehensive evaluation to its assistant secretary for international narcotics and law enforcement affairs.
