The IG found instances of employees with significant roles in privacy protections had not completed the required annual training, prompting the SSA to add new controls. Image: Veroniksha/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffAn inspector general report has called for strengthening security and privacy training for SSA employees and contractors, after identifying issues including that “personnel who assumed significant security roles after the training was assigned may not have received the required training.”
“Without proper role-based training, executives may have performed a role and duties for which they were not fully trained. For example, an SSA executive may have signed a risk acceptance without having completed all the required training related to that duty. By not ensuring executives complete the required role-based training, SSA sets a poor ‘tone at the top’ regarding the importance of adhering to federal standards,” it said.
Similar security training requirements also apply to contractors, but the IG found that in 20 of 45 contracts it reviewed, “the vendor did not provide evidence its personnel had completed role-based security training.” Agency managers and contracting officer representatives did not confirm that the training had been completed, “which increases the risk of security or data breaches and loss of sensitive information,” it said.
The IG also found instances of employees with significant roles in privacy protections had not completed the required annual training which “poses a risk to SSA’s information security posture and regulatory compliance. This error increases the risk of privacy violations, data breaches, and loss of sensitive information, such as personally identifiable information.”
The IG said that the SSA in response has set controls to assure that required training is provided to those who enter positions after the agency has determined who should receive which types of training. Management agreed with recommendations directed to training of contractors and privacy training of agency employees.
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