DHS HART program still behind schedule and over-budget

Jun 1, 2023, 2:40 pm EDT | Jim Nash

DHS HART program still behind schedule and over-budget

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has implemented some but not all of a critical replacement plan for outdated computer hardware.

The Government Accountability Office, which has been monitoring Homeland Security’s IT modernization since at least 2019, says high-security systems are out of date. Eleven or 19 recommendations made over that period have been addressed, says the GAO.

The GAO analysts say the department’s replacement of its biometric ID management program continues to lag badly. its intended replacement, the Homeland Advanced Recognition Technology program, was “significantly” behind schedule and over budget in 2021.

Today, they claim, the department has yet to fully address insufficient risk management and acquisition practices in the biometrics-replacement project.

The newest GAO report compiles Homeland Security’s IT modernization actions back to a 2019 report. That report recommended legacy systems be replaced on a critical basis.

This week’s update report found that some hardware that Homeland Security regards as high criticality are 11 years old. Those system also are considered by the department as posing a high security risk.

One category of equipment, referred to as System 4, has been listed by the GAO as one of the 10 most critical legacy system needing updates across all areas of the federal government.

The new biometric recognition system, known as HART, was to be live by 2021, a date that Homeland Security has pushed to 2024.