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Bureau of the Public Debt: Areas for Improvement in Computer Controls

AIMD-00-269 Published: Aug 09, 2000. Publicly Released: Aug 09, 2000.
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Highlights

Pursuant to a legislative requirement, GAO reviewed the Bureau of the Public Debt's (BPD) computer controls, focusing on: (1) the vulnerabilities identified; and (2) a follow-up on previously reported vulnerabilities.

Recommendations

Recommendations for Executive Action

Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of the Treasury The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the Commissioner of the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) to take specific actions to correct each of the individual vulnerabilities that were identified during GAO's testing and summarized in the Limited Official Use report.
Closed – Implemented
During GAO's fiscal year 2000 tests of the effectiveness of the Bureau of the Public Debt's (BPD) general and application controls, GAO followed up on the status of the BPD corrective actions to address vulnerabilities identified in our audit for fiscal year 1999. GAO found that, at September 30, 2000, BPD had corrected or mitigated the risks associated with 16 of the 17 vulnerabilities that were identified in this report. BPD officials have informed GAO that has taken further actions to correct the remaining vulnerability. GAO will follow up on these matters during the ongoing audit of the federal government's fiscal year 2000 financial statements.
Department of the Treasury The Secretary of the Treasury should direct the Commissioner of the Bureau of the Public Debt to work with the Federal Reserve Banks (FRB) to implement corrective actions to resolve the computer control vulnerabilities related to BPD systems supported by FRBs that GAO identified and communicated to the FRBs during GAO's testing.
Closed – Implemented
BPD officials informed GAO that they work closely with the FRB staff and provide support, where appropriate, as the FRBs implement corrective actions to address vulnerabilities identified in the FRB report. GAO plans to follow up on these matters during its ongoing audit of the federal government's fiscal year 2001 financial statements.

Full Report

Full Report (22 pages)

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Topics

Auditing and Financial Management
Application softwareAuditing standardsAuthorizationComputer resourcesComputer securityData destructionData integrityFederal debtFinancial applicationsFinancial management systemsFinancial statement auditsInternal controlsReporting requirementsSoftware verification and validationComputer resources management