Reports Slam DHS on Data Security, Contract Oversight.

The article reports on the criticism of the Government Accountability Office to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) data security and information technology contract management shortcomings within its program for controlling and monitoring the entry and visa status of foreign visitors. The GAO argued that the agency officials responsible for the U.S. Visitor and Immigrant Status Indicator Technology (US-VISIT) program did no establish effective financial controls for overseeing work performed on its behalf by other agencies. In addition, GAO also claimed that the program office did not understand exactly how much was being spent on contracts or whether the work was being done on time and within budgets. In these regard, Richard Skinner, inspector at the DHS, responded that the agency has not properly configured a database in which personal information captured by radio frequency identification devices is stored.