Security News > 2009 > July > GAO: Major Security Flaws at Federal Buildings

GAO: Major Security Flaws at Federal Buildings
2009-07-08 06:46

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2009/07/gao_finds_major_security_flaws.html Federal Eye By washingtonpost.com Editors Staff writer Spencer S. Hsu contributed to this report. July 7, 2009 The police agency in charge of protecting thousands of federal buildings nationwide has failed to keep bomb-making materials out of several high-security facilities in the past year, according to Congressional testimony provided by Senate aides. In the past year, investigators successfully smuggled bomb-making materials into ten high-security federal buildings, constructed bombs and walked around the buildings undetected, exposing weaknesses in security provided by the Federal Protective Service. More than one million government employees work in 9,000 facilities guarded by FPS around the country, including at least 350,000 in the Washington region. The revelations come as the Obama administration prepares to reorganize the agency in the coming weeks. Investigators carried liquid explosives and low-yield detonators -- materials investigators note are not normally carried into federal buildings. The GAO said security concerns prevent it from revealing the exact locations or cities of the affected facilities, but that eight of them were government owned, while two were leased. They included offices of a U.S. senator and House member, as well as offices for the departments of Homeland Security, Justice and State, the GAO reported. In one instance, the GAO obtained a building security tape showing an investigator walking through a security checkpoint with bomb making materials. [...] _______________________________________________ Attend Black Hat USA, July 25-30 in Las Vegas, the world's premier technical event for ICT security experts. Network with 4,000+ delegates from 50 nations. Visit product displays by 30 top sponsors in a relaxed setting. http://www.blackhat.com


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http://voices.washingtonpost.com/federal-eye/2009/07/gao_finds_major_security_flaws.html