As one of the responses to this growing threat, the executive branch of the US government has established as one of its cross agency priority (CAP) goals the continuous monitoring of federal information systems to enable departments and agencies to maintain an ongoing near-real-time awareness and assessment of information security risk and rapidly respond to support organizational risk management decisions. In November 2013, the US Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued memorandum M-14-03 requiring all federal departments and agencies to establish an information security continuous monitoring (ISCM) program. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has been tasked to work with all of the departments and agencies to help them implement continuous monitoring through the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program.