The Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) directs Inspectors General to conduct an annual evaluation of the agency information security program. FISMA, Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) establish information technology (IT) security guidance and standards for Federal agencies. We conducted this evaluation to assess the overall effectiveness of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s information security (InfoSec) program, assess their compliance with Federal guidance, and respond to OMB reporting questions for the fiscal year 2023 annual assessment. HUD’s InfoSec program averaged a score of 2.60 for the 20 core metrics and a 2.86 for the FY 2023 supplemental metrics, both of which are at the “defined” maturity level and are considered not effective. Although HUD improved overall, four of the five metrics in which HUD dropped in maturity were core metrics. HUD made commendable progress on increasing maturity on 10 metrics and should continue to focus on prioritizing maturity in the 20 core metrics and key cyber executive orders and requirements. These efforts will require a shared responsibility of proper resourcing, planning, and support from all levels of leadership across the Department. We issued 23 recommendations to improve HUD’s InfoSec program.
Recommendations
Chief Information Officer
- Status2023-OE-0001-01OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should implement a process to consistently update and maintain its inventory of hardware assets and ensure that the inventory is consistent with the automated discovery scans used to perform vulnerability, configurations, and continuous diagnostics and mitigation scans and use this inventory to consistently remove unauthorized hardware assets from the HUD network (IG FISMA metrics 2, 20, and 21).
- Status2023-OE-0001-02OpenClosedClosed on Agosto 26, 2024
HUD OCIO should report at least 80 percent of its government-furnished equipment through the DHS CDM program (IG FISMA metric 2).
- Status2023-OE-0001-03OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should implement a process to consistently update and maintain its inventory of software assets and ensure that the inventory is consistent with the automated discovery scans used to perform vulnerability, configurations, and continuous diagnostics and mitigation scans and use this inventory to consistently remove unauthorized software assets from the HUD network (IG FISMA metrics 2, 20, and 21).
- Status2023-OE-0001-04OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should update its software inventory policies and procedures to account for critical software as defined by EO 14028 (IG FISMA metrics 3 and 21).
- Status2023-OE-0001-05OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should implement policies and procedures to maintain inventories of critical software and software licenses, critical software platforms, and all software installed on critical software platforms (both critical software and noncritical software) and use the inventory of critical software platforms and all software installed on them to ensure that only supported versions of software are used on those critical software platforms (IG FISMA metrics 3 and 21).
- Status2023-OE-0001-06OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should in coordination with the Chief Risk Officer (CRO), document cybersecurity risk management roles and responsibilities in a consolidated list and; define procedures to hold personnel accountable to their assigned roles in the consolidated list (IG FISMA metric 7)
- Status2023-OE-0001-07OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should consistently implement personnel accountability procedures to ensure that assigned cybersecurity risk management roles are being performed in an effective manner (IG FISMA metric 7).
- Status2023-OE-0001-10OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should ensure that external systems, such as cloud systems and cloud service providers, have and maintain configuration management plans that are consistent with HUD’s defined configuration management requirements (IG FISMA metric 19).
- Status2023-OE-0001-11OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should define and implement metrics to monitor the effectiveness of ICAM program activities and assist in identifying areas for improvement (IG FISMA metric 26).
- Status2023-OE-0001-12OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should develop a comprehensive ICAM policy, strategy, process, and technology solution roadmap, including milestones, budget estimates, and appropriate technology solution details (IG FISMA metric 27). This recommendation replaces FY 2020 FISMA recommendation 11.
- Status2023-OE-0001-13OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should define policies and guidance for the use of system-specific access agreements (IG FISMA metric 29).
- Status2023-OE-0001-14OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should develop a plan that includes milestones and funding requirements for implementing phishing-resistant MFA for all users in alignment with Federal requirements (IG FISMA metrics 30 and 31).
- Status2023-OE-0001-15OpenClosed
HUD OCIO, in coordination with other appropriate HUD offices, should define and communicate policies and procedures for use of MFA at HUD facilities (IG FISMA metrics 30 and 31).
- Status2023-OE-0001-16OpenClosedClosed on Agosto 26, 2024
HUD OCIO should implement procedures to ensure that digital identity risk assessments have been performed and documented in accordance with HUD’s defined procedures and Federal guidelines (IG FISMA metrics 30 and 31).
- Status2023-OE-0001-17OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should define a plan to meet the logging requirements at all event logging maturity levels (basic, intermediate, advanced) in accordance with OMB M-21-31. This plan should include logging sufficient to allow for reviewing privileged user activities (IG FISMA metrics 32 and 54).
- Status2023-OE-0001-18OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should develop and implement monitoring and enforcement procedures to ensure that non-GFE devices (for example, BYOD), such as those owned by contractors or HUD employees, are either: (a) prohibited from connecting to the HUD network; or (b) properly authorized and configured before connection to the HUD network (IG FISMA metrics 2, 21, and 33).
- Status2023-OE-0001-19OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should develop and implement procedures and contract terms to enforce forfeiture of non-GFE devices (for example, BYOD), to allow for analysis when security incidents occur (IG FISMA metrics 33 and 55).
- Status2023-OE-0001-21OpenClosedClosed on Agosto 26, 2024
HUD OCIO should develop and implement processes to monitor and analyze qualitative and quantitative performance measures for the effectiveness of its ISCM program (IG FISMA metric 47).
- Status2023-OE-0001-22OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should define a process and assign responsibility to evaluate the effectiveness of its incident response technologies and adjust configurations and toolsets to improve the incident response program (IG FISMA metric 58).
- Status2023-OE-0001-23OpenClosed
HUD OCIO should update its enterprisewide business impact prioritization analysis procedures to include system dependencies and the characterization of system components (IG FISMA metric 61).
Chief Financial Officer
- Status2023-OE-0001-08OpenClosed
HUD’s Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO), in coordination with other appropriate program offices, should define and implement a risk-based process to assess and document IT risk management personnel resourcing needs and that those personnel are allocated effectively to support HUD’s risk management program (IG FISMA metric 7).
- Status2023-OE-0001-09OpenClosed
HUD OCFO, in coordination with other appropriate program offices, should define and implement a process to document and allocate non-personnel risk management resources in a risk-based manner, to include but not limited to funding, processes, and technology (IG FISMA metric 7).
Office of Administration
- Status2023-OE-0001-20OpenClosedClosed on Octubre 04, 2024
HUD’s Office of Administration, in coordination with OCIO, should update and communicate its PII minimization plan. The plan should include detailed procedures to regularly review and remove unnecessary PII collections in accordance with OMB Circular A-130 (IG FISMA metric 35).