Five years of the federal security report card

Computerworld - The House Committee on Government Reform evaluated security implementations in 24 Federal departments. Departments are graded on a 0-100 scale. The overall grade for 2005 was 67.4, a 0.1% improvement over 2004 and the highest overall score in the five years the evaluation has been undertaken.

The report card awards five A+ grades for departmental scores ranging from 100 to 97.5. This is the first year in which multiple A+ grades have been awarded. The A+ roster consists of AID (Agency for International Development), EPA, Labor, OPM (Office of Personnel Management) and the Social Security Administration. AID is the first agency to gain two consecutive A+ ratings, after pulling Fs in 2001 and 2002.

At the bottom, Agriculture, Homeland Security and Energy managed to keep their unbroken F streaks alive, with Agriculture pulling a worst-ever 24. Defense, Interior and the State Department both lost ground, slipping back from passing grades in 2004 to enlistment in this year's eight-member F troop.

Agency 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 Agriculture 24 49.5 40 36 31 AID 100 99 70.5 52 22 Commerce 67 56.5 72.5 68 51 DoD * 38.75 65 65.5 38 40 Education 71 76.5 77 66 33 Energy 46.75 48.5 59.5 41 51 EPA 97.5 84 74.5 63 69 GSA 92.5 79.5 65 64 66 HHS 45.5 49.5 54 61 43 DHS 33.5 20.5 34 n/a n/a HUD 67.5 28 40 48 66 Interior 41.5 77 43 37 48 Justice 66.5 82.5 55.5 56 50 Labor 99 83 86.5 79 56 NASA 80 60 60.5 68 70 NRC 60.5 88 94.5 74 34 NSF 95 77.5 90.5 63 87 OPM 98 72.5 61.5 52 39 SBA 78 60 71 48 48 SSA 99 86 88 82 79 State 37.5 69.5 39.5 54 69 Transportation 71.5 91.5 69 28 48 Treasury * 60.5 68 64 48 54 VA * 46 50 76.5 50 44 OVERALL 67.4 67.3 65 55 53 A+ A A- B+ B B- C+ C C- D+ D D- F * Numbers for FY 2003 derived solely from agency self-reporting; no Inspector General evaluation available Source: reform.house.gov

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