NASA gets its IT security off the critical list

"Reducing number of systems, deploying patch management are among improvements

NASA has improved its IT security enough over the past year that the space agency's inspector general has removed the issue from his list of most serious challenges.

Still on the list, however, is NASA’s struggle to implement an integrated financial management system.

For the third year in a row, the agency’s financial statements received a disclaimer from the independent auditor because of internal control deficiencies, Cobb said. NASA has made some progress, Cobb added, such as reorganizing the lines of authority so that chief financial officers in the agency’s 10 centers now report to agency CFO Gwendolyn Brown. "