The was redacted but cited highlighted access levels, password strength and incident detection. Image: Linda Parton/Shutterstock.com
By: FEDweek StaffIn a test of cybersecurity at the Census Bureau, an IG team “was able to gain unauthorized and undetected access” to personally identifiable information of Bureau employees, a report says.
The IG said it had a “red team” conduct a test of the Bureau’s susceptibility to advanced cyber threats after it was the target of a hack in early 2020—just as that year’s census was about to start—that “came from exploiting a known vulnerability” in its virtual desktop structure. “By bypassing multiple security countermeasures and evading detection by the Bureau’s security staff, the red team demonstrated a critical threat to the Bureau’s information security,” it said.
That allowed the team for example to gain access to files on employees including hiring forms with Social Security numbers, first and last names and home addresses. The team also was able to “reduce the Bureau’s defensive options . . . use insecure programs to send fake emails; and carry out malicious actions that identified 11 security weaknesses.”
Many specifics of what was done, and what the IG recommended to counter it, were redacted from the report. However, the released portions included references to issues with who was given what level of access, use of “weak” passwords and “insufficient incident detection and alerting.”
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