Asks Huerta For 'Full Accounting" On Status Of GAO Recommendations

U.S. Senators John Thune (R-SD) (pictured) and Bill Nelson (D-FL), the chairman and ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, have sent a letter to FAA Administrator Michael P. Huerta and the DOT Secretary Anthony Foxx regarding a recent GAO report that identified vulnerabilities to FAA information systems.

In the letter, the Senators say that "The recent GAO report describing significant vulnerabilities to critical Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) information systems, affecting mission-critical air traffic control programs, highlights troubling weaknesses.  These vulnerabilities have potential to compromise the safety and efficiency of the national airspace system (NAS), which the traveling public relies on each and every day.  We cannot risk undermining our investments in NextGen air traffic control modernization by leaving critical systems such as En Route Automation Modernization (ERAM) and our telecommunications infrastructure open to intrusion by nefarious actors.
  
"In its report titled “FAA Needs to Address Weaknesses in Air Traffic Control Systems,” GAO recommends 17 steps the FAA should take to secure its information security systems and address vulnerabilities. We ask that the FAA provide a full accounting on the status of these recommendations, including specific actions cited in the limited distribution report, as well as any other steps taken to secure FAA mission-critical systems."

Secretary Foxx was scheduled to testify Wednesday at a committee hearing on the DOT's FY2016 budget request.

FMI: www.commerce.senate.gov