DCSA Needs to Deploy Better Analytical Tech, GAO Says

The Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) should put better analytical capabilities in the hands of its regional operators to help the agency accomplish a portion of its mission set, the Government Accountability Office said in a report issued on April 24.

DCSA is a Defense Department (DOD) component with two fundamental missions –personnel vetting and industrial security.

In connection with the latter mission, DCSA oversees 12,500 cleared facilities under the National Industrial Security Program (NISP), according to the agency’s website.

Central to that function, GAO said in its new report, is protecting classified information released to federal contractors, and ensuring that those contractors are properly accessing and storing classified information.

“However, this agency conducts less than 40% of its required inspections of contractor facilities, which puts this classified information at risk,” GAO said.

“This agency also struggles with things like a small workforce and an inadequate IT system,” the watchdog said, continuing, “For example, its current IT system doesn’t have the analytic capabilities the agency would need to more easily identify risks and regional trends.”

On the plus side, GAO said “DCSA has taken steps to manage risk with the industrial security mission,” including “efforts to identify, assess, and respond to risk.”

“However, DCSA has not addressed gaps to fully assess and respond to risks to its operational activities in line with DOD guidance on risk management,” GAO said, adding, “For example, DCSA has not identified and developed analytic capabilities to better support field operators’ assessments of risk at the regional level.”

“With such capabilities, the agency could identify the most significant regional trends affecting its overall performance objectives,” GAO concluded.

GAO offered four recommendations to DCSA – all of which the agency concurred with – including that the department provide enhanced analytic tools for regional operators.