Podcasts Government Government Information Security Podcast FISMA Reforms Outlined: Senator Tom Carper

FISMA Reforms Outlined: Senator Tom Carper

Published: Feb. 16, 2009, 3:11 p.m.

b'Reform legislation is expected to be introduced this spring to update the Federal Information Security and Management Act, known as FISMA. A major complaint about FISMA is that complying with its rules does not necessarily guarantee departmental and agency information systems are secure.\\n\\n

In this exclusive interview, Sen. Tom Carper, chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal Services and International Security, discusses:\\n\\n

Key provisions in the bill to improve ways to measure and determine the security of federal government information systems;
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Efforts to create a government-wide Chief Information Security Officer Council;
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His views on the most pressing cybersecurity challenges facing the nation: identity theft and the viability of financial institutions and threats by foreign nations to federal information systems.
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Tom Carper has held elective office for 32 consecutive years, ever since 1976 when Delaware voters tapped him to be state treasurer. In 1982, the Democrat was elected to the House of Representatives. After serving five terms in the House, voters elected him as governor in 1992 and again in 1996. Carper was elected to the Senate in 2000 and reelected in 2006. Besides chairing the subcommittee that provides oversight for federal government information security, Carper heads the Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee and serves on the Finance Committee. He also is the Deputy Whip of the Senate\'s Democratic Party majority.'