WASHINGTON D.C COMPUTER SECURITY REMAINS A PRIORITY FOR GOVERNMENT Retirement Fund Tapped to Avoid National Debt Limit: "Tech Priorities

Computer security remains a priority for the government's top technology officials in the second term of the Bush administration, according to a survey sponsored by a trade group.

Interviews with 39 senior federal technology officials, including 20 chief information officers, showed that progress is being made in improving computer security to ward off viruses, hackers and the inappropriate disclosure of sensitive information, said the report released yesterday by the Information Technology Association of America.

But the survey also found that federal officials thought they were making less progress in safeguarding privacy. 'The consensus seems to indicate that privacy needs to be elevated as an issue and was getting priority attention in only a few agencies where public concerns were driving the issue,' the report said.

The report was based on interviews in the second half of 2005 with current and former high-tech officials in the government. Grant Thornton, an accounting and business-management firm, helped sponsor and conduct ITAA's 16th annual survey.

Improvements in project management also are a high priority for technology officials, said Paul Wohlleben , a Grant Thornton partner who helped oversee the survey. Federal officials see challenges in training and keeping staff and finding consistent ways to measure progress on projects, he said.

The majority of federal technology officials stay in the jobs between two and four years, slightly less than in the past, the survey found. A higher percentage of technology officials are political appointees today, and that may help explain the shorter tenure."