The E-Government Act (Public Law
107-347) passed by the 107th Congress and signed into law by the
President in December 2002 recognized the importance of information
security to the economic and national security interests of the
United States. Title III of the E-Government Act, entitled the
Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) requires each
federal agency to develop, document, and implement an agency-wide
program to provide information security for the information and
information systems that support the operations and assets of the
agency, including those provided or managed by another agency,
contractor, or other source. FISMA, along with the Paperwork
Reduction Act of 1995 and the Information Technology Management
Reform Act of 1996 (Clinger-Cohen Act), explicitly emphasizes a
risk-based policy for cost-effective security. FSA is initiating a
formal assessment program of the Guaranty Agencies that will ensure
the continued confidentiality and integrity of data entrusted to
FSA by students and families. The assessment will identify security
deficiencies based on the Federal standards described in the
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) publications.
The comprehensive self-assessment links all questions with a NIST
control. This collection of information impacts 28 independently
owned Guaranty Agencies (GAs) dispersed throughout the U.S. Each
agency is under signed agreement with the Department of Education
to service Federal Family Education Loans that have been turned
over from the lending institutions to the GAs for the purpose of
student loan collections.
US Code:
20
USC 1078 Name of Law: Higher Education Act of 1965, as
amended
On behalf of this Federal agency, I certify that
the collection of information encompassed by this request complies
with 5 CFR 1320.9 and the related provisions of 5 CFR
1320.8(b)(3).
The following is a summary of the topics, regarding
the proposed collection of information, that the certification
covers:
(i) Why the information is being collected;
(ii) Use of information;
(iii) Burden estimate;
(iv) Nature of response (voluntary, required for a
benefit, or mandatory);
(v) Nature and extent of confidentiality; and
(vi) Need to display currently valid OMB control
number;
If you are unable to certify compliance with any of
these provisions, identify the item by leaving the box unchecked
and explain the reason in the Supporting Statement.