Department of Labor to Provide $6 Million in Unemployment Insurance IT Security Grants

The U.S. Department of Labor today announced grants to 22 states and Puerto Rico totaling $6,008,840 to improve their unemployment insurance (UI) information technology security.

"Unemployment insurance plays a critical role in helping workers persevere through tough times," said Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. "This funding will boost states' efforts to secure UI systems against fraud and ensure that those in need receive assistance."

Today's awards will promote states' use of the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) guidelines to identify security weaknesses in UI systems and achieve security certification and accreditation. Funding also will be used to correct specific security concerns identified through Federal Information Security Management Act audits conducted by the Office of Inspector General in several states.

Specific security enhancement activities funded through today's awards include projects in risk management, contingency planning, incident response capability, data center security, security awareness and training, data integrity, hardware and systems security, and information technology security documentation. This year is the fourth that information technology security projects have been undertaken with these grants.

"Data security improvements implemented with the help of these funds will strengthen the integrity of our state unemployment insurance systems," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment and Training Emily Stover DeRocco. "It is more than reasonable that tax-paying workers and employers expect states to continuously improve the performance of their UI systems."