Immigration and Customs Enforcement

A day after the Department of Homeland Security cancelled its $450 million contract to modernize and unify its backoffice IT systems, the department’s acting CFO told Congress DHS will focus first on modernizing the infrastructure of the department’s components that are severely out of date. A new strategy for an integrated, departmentwide system has yet to be determined, she said.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement received a score of 95 on its FISMA report card in 2011. Jeff Eisensmith, the ICE CISO, said the agency is implementing continuous monitoring and increasing the training of its employees.

Under the $40 million deal, ICE wants a modernized system that gives investigators access to more than 100 disparate databases.

Six years after the Veterans Affairs data breach, civilian agency networks and computers are more secure. Current and former federal officials and cyber experts say from secretaries on down, the threat of a cyber attack and the impact on mission is well understood.

Like all U.S. citizens, federal employees’ rights are protected under the First Amendment. But when their private lives conflict with their agency’s mission, it’s another story. DHS employee Ayo Kimathi’s racist website is a case in point.

DHS ICE issued a solicitation looking for a vendor to provide technology to let law enforcement officers hook into the National License Plate Recognition Database.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement is deploying Student and Exchange Visitor Program (SEVP) employees to schools. They will monitor international students up close. The agency says the field representatives are integral to protecting national security. Rachel Canty, deputy director of the SEVP at ICE, told Federal Drive hosts Tom Temin and Emily Kopp what the SEVP employees will accomplish.

A new memo calls for a more unified decision-making effort that is supported by data and analysis. Secretary Jeh Johnson is focusing on making programs more effective.

The Office of Inspector General says the Department of Homeland Security is struggling to keep its component agencies on the same page for communication and coordination of missions.

Leaders of R&D components of DHS detailed technological projects and innovation processes at a Senate Homeland Security Subcommittee budgetary hearing.