US Spent Billions On Failed IT Projects Amid Evolving Cyber Threats - Watchdog

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th December, 2018) US Federal agencies wasted billions of Dollars on unsuccessful information technology projects leading to cybersecurity incidents that have impacted millions of people, the Government Accountability Office said in a report.

"The [US] federal government has spent billions on information technology projects that failed or have performed poorly," the report said on Wednesday. "These efforts often suffered from ineffective management. Agencies have also had cybersecurity failures affecting millions of people."

The GAO also warned that increasingly sophisticated cyber threats have underscored the need for effective information security.

In 2016, according to the report, 23 US government agencies spent a combined total of $4 billion on IT security-related activities. Despite this investment, GAO auditors continue to uncover information security deficiencies.

Since 2010, the report added, US federal agencies have failed to implement 510 of 1,242 IT management and operations recommendations along with 688 of 3,000 cybersecurity related recommendations.

The federal government planned to spend more than $96 billion on information technology projects in 2018, the release noted, which was part of the reason Congress asked the watchdog to investigate.