Interior secretary Gale Norton told the Office of Management and Budget recently that the department’s financial systems are riddled with security weaknesses, even after she had told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia last month that they were secure.

Norton’s statements to OMB Sept. 8 in the department’s Financial Management Report and Strategic Plan (FY 2004—FY 2008) came to light in a filing today by the plaintiffs in Cobell v. Norton. That seven-year-old litigation over Interior’s mismanagement of American Indian trust funds hinges in large part on whether the department has secured the trust systems from hacking.

Several Interior systems remain disconnected from the Internet because of court orders issued in the case.

[ Read more ]