WASHINGTON — Several large federal agencies continue to be at risk for cyberattacks even as the number of cyber incidents reported during fiscal 2018 fell compared with the previous year, the Office of Management and Budget said in a report sent to Congress on Friday.
The number of cyber incidents reported by federal agencies fell 12% to 31,107 during fiscal 2018 but “drawing conclusions based on this data point, particularly as agencies have adjusted to several new sets of reporting guidelines over the last few years, would be concerning,” the report said.
Email-based threats continue to be the most prevalent means of cyberattack on federal agencies, the report said. In about 27% of all cyber incidents, federal agencies could not identify the source of the attack, according to the annual report required under a 2014 law .
The departments of Energy and Health and Human Services, as well as the EPA, Federal Communications Commission and the Federal Trade Commission, were all ranked as being “at risk” for cyberattacks because “significant gaps remain” despite policies and processes in place, the report said.
Overall the federal…
