Which department issues the Federal Information Security Memorandum (FISM)?

• A. Department of Homeland Security
• B. Office of Management and Budget
• C. Department of Defense
• D. Department of Justice

Answer: (A)

The key idea here is which agency sets official federal information security policy guidance for the entire federal civilian workforce. The Department of Homeland Security is the agency responsible for coordinating and issuing this kind of policy memo to guide how agencies protect information, manage risk, and respond to events, aligning with FISMA/NIST guidance. That’s why the Federal Information Security Memorandum comes from DHS. The other agencies have different roles—OMB handles budget and management policy, DoD focuses on defense-specific directives, and DOJ handles law enforcement and legal matters—not the broad, cross-agency information security policy memos.