Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002

Enacted in 2002, the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), was passed to support the E-Government Act of 2002. Without information security, it is impossible for government to deliver reliable services through electronic means.

Criticism
FISMA has been criticized, by legislators and legislative agencies, for being too dependent on manual paper procedures and not enough on specific enforcement technologies and procedures.

In April 2009, Senator Thomas Carper (D-Delaware)) introduced two pieces of legislation to force more actual compliance and less paper reporting of hypothetical compliance. Hearings also were held in May by Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization and Procurement of the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.