Federal CISO Says 10-Year Plan to Replace Legacy IT Under Development

Chris DeRusha, the federal chief information security officer, has revealed that the White House is making a decade-long federal agency modernization plan to phase out legacy systems and strengthen national cybersecurity.

At a Nextgov/FCW event on Tuesday, DeRusha explained that old systems make it difficult to implement guidance on encryption and multifactor authentication.

He added that modernization is a top priority following the release of the national cybersecurity strategy, which instructs the Office of Management and Budget to develop a multi-year lifecycle plan to get rid of legacy systems and accelerate tech upgrades across the federal civilian executive branch.

Under the strategy, the OMB is also required to address risks in legacy systems that cannot be replaced within 10 years and drive a transition to cloud services, Nextgov/FCW reported.

The Government Accountability Office, an independent entity that audits federal agencies for Congress, has flagged the Department of Homeland Security, Department of Transportation, Office of Personnel Management and Internal Revenue Service in recent months for lagging modernization efforts.

Lawmakers recently proposed a bill that would require agencies to inventory legacy IT systems and craft modernization plans.