The federal government has received its 2007 computer security report cards from the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. The government earned a "C" for protecting against cyber attack, which is a slight improvement over the "C-minus" it got in 2006, reports The Washington Post.

According to this Federal Times article, nine agencies earned failing grades, including the departments of Defense, Labor, Treasury and Veterans Affairs. On the flip side, the Department of Justice, the Agency for International Development and the Environmental Protection Agency are among the agencies that earned "A" grades.

However, there is skepicism about the report cards. The grades are based on reports compiled for the Federal Information Security Management Act. Alan Paller, director of research at the SANS Institute, says the FISMA reports say nothing about security and only measure compliance with report generation. Paller also notes that agencies are not required to demonstrate that they have effectively implemented the mandated controls.

Despite a "passing" grade, there is obviously work that still needs to be done. Even though federal IT staff admit they are concerned about security, agencies are still making headlines for security breaches.