Coast Guard: Actions Needed to Enhance IT Program Implementation

The U.S. Coast Guard, a component of the Department of Homeland Security, relies extensively on Information Technology (IT) systems and services to carry out its 11 statutory missions. It also relies on operational technology, which encompasses a broad range of programmable systems or devices that interact with the physical environment, such as sensors and radar. Historically, the Coast Guard has had longstanding issues managing its technology resources. As such, it plans to spend $93 million to improve the reliability and performance of these resources in fiscal year 2022. The William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 included a provision for the Government Accountability Office (GAO) to review several aspects of the Coast Guard’s IT program. This report addresses, among other things, the extent to which the Coast Guard (1) has a process to plan for network capacity; (2) has cybersecurity risk management processes for IT and for operational technology; and (3) has incorporated federal requirements in its strategy for cloud computing. To do so, GAO evaluated the Coast Guard’s IT policies and procedures against common practices for network capacity planning. GAO also analyzed the Coast Guard’s cybersecurity processes for IT and operational technology and assessed their application. Further, it assessed the cloud strategy and other related documentation against federal requirements and guidance. GAO is making eight recommendations to improve the Coast Guard’s IT program implementation. The Department of Homeland Security agreed with all eight recommendations.

• Record URL:
  • https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105092.pdf
• Summary URL:
  • https://www.gao.gov/assets/gao-22-105092-highlights.pdf
• Corporate Authors:

  U.S. Government Accountability Office

  441 G Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20548
• Publication Date: 2022-7-28

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Appendices; Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 56p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Cloud computing; Computer security; Implementation; Information technology; Recommendations; Risk management
• Identifier Terms: United States Coast Guard
• Subject Areas: Data and Information Technology; Marine Transportation; Planning and Forecasting;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01853520
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: GAO-22-105092
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: Jul 29 2022 4:56PM