Budget Proposal Aims to Audit State Agency Security Compliance

An item in Gov. Brown’s budget proposal, if approved, will fund a 2-year pilot project to audit state agencies’ compliance with state and federal security standards.   Consistent with the work already done by the California Office of Information Security, the proposal is for $684 K to add 5 new positions.

Here’s the item below, including a $6.7 million proposal to increase efficiency at the state’s data center:

Department of Technology

The Department of Technology is the central information technology (IT) organization for California. It is responsible for the approval and oversight of all statewide IT projects; provides centralized IT services and training to government entities; promulgates statewide IT security policies and procedures; and has responsibility over telecommunication and IT procurements.

 Significant  Adjustments: 

• Information Technology Security Compliance — The Budget provides $684,000 in 2014-15 to fund 5 limited-term positions for a 2-year pilot project within the Office of Information Security. The pilot project will audit state departments’ compliance with mandated state and federal IT security policies, which are in place to protect the state’s critical IT infrastructure and information assets from loss, theft, and misuse.

• Data Center Growth — The Budget includes $6.7 million to increase the power and cooling capacity of the Gold Camp Data Center in order to accommodate future customer demand.  The Data Center continues to absorb large IT systems as departments centralize their IT systems and data processing to the Department of Technology, resulting in reduced costs to departments, more secure systems and applications, and the use of current and more efficient technology to meet business  needs.