All federal agencies are required to comply with FISMA guidelines for IT systems security. Failure to pass an inspection can result in unfavorable publicity, increased oversight of your agency, computer breaches, and even a reduction in your IT budget. In this white paper, we’ll look at:

• What FISMA is and why it was created

• Key steps in achieving FISMA compliance

• Tools that can help you meet FISMA requirements

FISMA provides a set of specific guidelines for federal agencies on how to plan for, budget, implement, and maintain secure systems. These new, stricter security guidelines replaced an expired set of rules under the Government Information Security Reform Act. To achieve FISMA compliance, your agency must:

• Plan for security

• Ensure that appropriate officials are assigned security responsibility

• Periodically review IT security controls

• Authorize system processing prior to operations and periodically thereafter.

Integrity, which means guarding against improper information modification or destruction, and includes ensuring information nonrepudiation and authenticity; confidentiality which means preserving authorized restrictions on access and disclosure, including means for protecting personal privacy and proprietary information; and availability, which means ensuring timely and reliable access to and use of information. The term national security system means any information system including any telecommunications system used or operated by an agency or by a contractor of an agency, or other organization on behalf of an agency the function, operation, or use of which involves intelligence activities. Requires cryptologic activities related to national security command and control of military forces equipment that is an integral part of a weapon or weapons system or is critical to the direct fulfillment of military or