U.S. Homeland Security employees locked out of computer networks
From Wn.com
DHS Hacked? Employees unable to access Gov Comp
Reuters reports computer network access by U.S. Department of Homeland Security employees in the Washington, D.C. area was sporadic Tuesday, two sources familiar with the matter said.
It was not immediately clear how widespread the issue was or how significantly it affected daily functions at DHS, a large government agency whose responsibilities include immigration services, border security and cyber defense.
Employees reported experiencing problems logging into networks at 5 a.m. ET (10 a.m. GMT) because of the expiration of the personal identity verification cards used by federal workers and contractors to access certain information systems, one source said.
Reuters reported sources saying at least four DHS buildings were affected, including locations used by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is a cabinet department of the United States federal government with responsibilities in public security, roughly comparable to the interior or home ministries of other countries. Its stated missions involve antiterrorism, border security, immigration and customs, cybersecurity, and disaster prevention and management.
DHS did not respond to requests by Reuters for comment on the situation.
Following the 2015 discovery of a massive hack at the Office of Personnel Management – compromising nearly 22 million background check records – government agencies redoubled efforts to implement the use of “smart” cards for network log-ins, the report said.
U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to make cyber security a priority during his administration.
At a White House event last month he said he would “hold my Cabinet secretaries and agency heads accountable – totally accountable – for the cyber security of their organizations.”
– WN.com, Jack Durschlag
For more on this story go to: https://article.wn.com/view/2017/02/21/BREAKING_US_Homeland_Security_Employees_Locked_Out_Of_Comput/
