September 24, 2004

Evaluation Report on "The Department's Unclassified Cyber Security Program - 2004

In Fiscal Year 2004, the Department of Energy (Department) estimated it would spend about $2.7 billion on information technology to support its various missions. As a leader in scientific and experimental computer development and utlization, the Department deploys numerous networks and thousands of individual information systems that meet dat-to-day mission requirements such as finance, security, and, reearch and development. As with other Government and private sector organizations, the Department faces a growning threat of intrusion or damage to its mission critical systems. External experts now calculate that, on average, a system that is not properly properly protected will be compromised by hackers or malicious individuals within 20 minutes after it is exposed to the internet.