FISMA: IAF's Information Security Program for Fiscal Year 2024 Was Effective, Although Improvements Are Recommended

Why We Did This Audit

• We contracted with the independent certified public accounting firm of RMA Associates LLC (RMA) to conduct an audit of the Inter-American Foundation’s (IAF’s) information security program in support of the Federal Information Security Modernization Act of 2014 (FISMA) and in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.
• FISMA requires federal agencies to develop, document, and implement an agency-wide information security program to protect their information and information systems. FISMA also requires the agency Inspectors General (IGs) to assess the effectiveness of agency information security programs and practices and report the results of the assessments to the Office of Management and Budget.
• The audit objective was to determine whether IAF implemented an effective information security program.

What We Found

• RMA concluded that IAF generally implemented an effective information security program. However, RMA found weaknesses in three of nine IG FISMA metric domains.
• RMA also determined that IAF took corrective action on two prior FISMA audit recommendations and that one recommendation remains open. The firm will assess action taken to close an additional recommendation at a later time.  

Why It Matters

• FISMA provides a comprehensive framework for ensuring effective security controls over information resources supporting Federal operations and assets.
• We made two new recommendations in addition to prior recommendations to address the weaknesses identified in the report. IAF concurred with the recommendations.