GAO Publishes Federal Building Security Report

This week, the Government Accountability Office published a report looking at the effectiveness of the Federal Protective Services in providing physical security oversight over, and federal law enforcement support to federally owned and leased offices. The GAO reports that, while Agencies are generally satisfied with the assessments, they do not implement many of the resulting recommendations.

The report notes:

“FPS conducts facility security assessments and recommends security measures—such as security cameras, physical access control systems, and x-ray screening equipment. These measures are aimed at preventing security incidents.”

Interestingly, there is no discussion about the assessment of, and recommendations for, the cybersecurity of the electronic systems being suggested by the FPS. This would be especially problematic where these systems are networked to centralized security stations or where remote access to the systems are allowed.

Reader Comment – 02-20-09

Early this morning Anonymous posted a comment to yesterday’s blog about the role-out of the Site Security Plan Tool. Actually, the comment was signed “a federal 10 year DSO”; I believe the DSO refers to a Defense Security Officer. In any case the comment was an extensive rant against the current FPS (Federal Protective Service, the people that provide security services for Federal Buildings and property). I have little personal experience with this organization, but have seen some news reports that indicate that there are problems with the funding, staffing, and leadership of this organization. Unfortunately, all of this has little to do with security at high-risk chemical facilities. At least I have heard nothing of any intention by anyone to use the FPS or any other governmental security service to provide security at these facilities.