Summary: This report provides an overall assessment and summary of the Department of the Treasury's Financial Management Service (FMS) general and application computer controls over key financial systems it maintains and operates. It points out computer control weaknesses that, in GAO's view, place FMS' financial systems at significant risk of fraud, unauthorized disclosure and modifications of sensitive data and programs, misuse or damage to computer resources, or disruption of critical operations. GAO concludes that pervasive weaknesses in computer controls render FMS' overall security control environment ineffective in identifying, deterring, and responding to computer control weaknesses promptly. Consequently, billions of dollars of payments and collections are at significant risk of loss or fraud, sensitive data are at risk of inappropriate disclosure, and critical computer-based operations are vulnerable to serious disruptions. As of September 1999, FMS had corrected or mitigated the risks associated with 52 of the 94 computer control weaknesses cited by GAO in its fiscal year 1998 report.
