Security accreditation program

	The National Institute of Standards and Technology has started a program for certifying new agency systems as secure. The Certification and Accreditation Program will develop the standards and establish a network of accredited organizations to provide security certification services. Ron Ross, who leads the new program, said these standards could be used to evaluate systems from as small as an office network to as large and complex as an agencywide financial system. The Office of Management and Budget Circular A-130 requires agencies to use an accreditation officer to certify that a new system is secure and that any misuse would not compromise the agency's mission.

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