The Associated Press (News - Alert) on Thursday reported that about a third of the FBI agents working on cyber investigations lack the networking and counterintelligence expertise to investigate national security intrusions. This AP write-up was based on a survey conducted by the inspector general (IG) of the Justice Department.

The IG’s assessment indicated that FBI's practice of rotating agents among different offices to promote a variety of work experiences hinders the ability to investigate national security cyber intrusions.

Based on interviews of 36 agents in 10 offices, the IG’s report emphasized the need for a strong cyber security work force in the federal government. According to Sen. Susan Collins, the top Republican on the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, "Strong cyber security force is more urgent than ever," wrote AP reporter Pete Yost.

While the FBI has a comprehensive instructional plan in place that includes 12 core courses that an agent must take along with on-the-job training, many agents said training was helpful but that they did not have the time to take the required courses, IG’s audit stated. Also, as per the AP write-up, FBI stated that it has allowed agents to bypass prerequisite courses when more advanced classes are pertinent to their current case assignments.

To improve government's ability to counter cyber attacks, better information sharing by the FBI with other law enforcement and intelligence participants on the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force is needed, as per the report released this week by acting IG Cynthia Schnedar, wrote Yost.

Furthermore, in this survey, FBI officials told the IG that any limitations on information sharing probably were the result of legal restrictions. Speaking to the IG, a task force representative and an FBI agent told the inspector general’s office that some agencies are asked to leave meetings where threats are discussed because a need-to-know policy is enforced, wrote Yost.