A watchdog agency for the U.S. Census Bureau says that proper information-technology security safeguards weren’t in place leading up to the start of the 2020 census last year, but the statistical agency disputes some of the findings and says no data was compromised.
There were a significant number of IT risks that remained open before the start of the head count of every U.S. resident that determines how many congressional seats and Electoral College votes each state gets, as well as the distribution of $1.5 trillion in federal funding each year, according to the report issued last week by the Office of Inspector General.
The Census Bureau was able to remedy some of the security deficiencies after they were pointed out by the Office of Inspector General, and others were corrected right before most U.S. residents began answering the 2020 census questionnaire in March, the report said.
“The integrity of census data is crucial,” the report said. “If population numbers were manipulated, representation in the House of Representatives and federal money distribution could be disproportionately distributed.”
In a response, the Census Bureau took issue with that statement, saying there had been no loss or compromise of data and that the gaps identified by the Office of Inspector General were fixed before most households began responding in March.
The 2020 census was the first once-a-decade count in which respondents were encouraged to answer the questionnaire online, though they could also respond by mail or telephone. About two-thirds of households self-responded, while the remainder required visits for interviews from census takers.
Related: U.S. Census Bureau Confirms Data Breach
Related: Potential Privacy Lapse Found in Americans’ 2010 Census Data
More from Associated Press
- Major Massachusetts Health Insurer Hit by Ransomware Attack, Member Data May Be Compromised
- Biden Picks New NSA Head, Key to Support of Ukraine, Defense of US Elections
- White House Unveils New Efforts to Guide Federal Research of AI
- Meta Fined Record $1.3 Billion and Ordered to Stop Sending European User Data to US
- China Tells Tech Manufacturers to Stop Using Micron Chips, Stepping Up Feud With United States
- ChatGPT’s Chief Testifies Before Congress, Calls for New Agency to Regulate Artificial Intelligence
- Philadelphia Inquirer Hit by Cyberattack Causing Newspaper’s Largest Disruption in Decades
- Executive Fired From TikTok’s Chinese Owner Says Beijing Had Access to App Data in Termination Suit
Latest News
- Enzo Biochem Ransomware Attack Exposes Information of 2.5M Individuals
- Apple Denies Helping US Government Hack Russian iPhones
- Zero-Day in MOVEit File Transfer Software Exploited to Steal Data From Organizations
- Google Temporarily Offering $180,000 for Full Chain Chrome Exploit
- Russia Blames US Intelligence for iOS Zero-Click Attacks
- Toyota Discloses New Data Breach Involving Vehicle, Customer Information
- Cisco Acquiring Armorblox for Predictive and Generative AI Technology
- Moxa Patches MXsecurity Vulnerabilities That Could Be Exploited in OT Attacks
