Why the 2020 U.S. Census Is a Cybersecurity 'High Risk Program'

On the list of "Extremely Important Government Programs that Every American Should Know About," the U.S. Census is pretty front-and-center.

It gives us data on the country's population makeup, helps draw electoral district lines, allocates Congressional seats, and tells the federal government how to distribute funding—all very important stuff.

But according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the 2020 Census is officially a High Risk Program.

And the reason has everything to do with cybersecurity and information technology (IT).

Key risks in the Census Bureau

In its recent report, the GAO explains that the Department of Commerce’s Census Bureau has spread itself rather thin with the upcoming census.

A complete count of the nation’s population is an enormous undertaking as the Bureau seeks to control the cost of the census, implement operational innovations, and use new and modified IT systems.

In recent years, GAO has identified challenges that raise serious concerns about the Bureau’s ability to conduct a cost-effective count.

The GAO also identified three primary risk areas for the 2020 census:

1. Innovation: The Census Bureau has several innovative changes planned for 2020, including allowing citizens to respond digitally. But the changes haven't been practiced extensively, leaving the door wide open for things to go wrong.
2. Implementing IT systems: Despite planning to rely heavily on IT systems for the the census, the Bureau is at risk of not meeting near-term IT system development and testing schedule milestones for five operational deliveries.
3. Cybersecurity: A full security assessment recently revealed over 330 corrective actions with the census that need to be addressed, 217 of which are considered "high risk."

Check out the GAO's complete report on the census' risks here.