Editor's Note: This story was updated at 1:30 p.m. April 18, 2006, to correct Russack's first name and to add that President Bush nominated Thomas McNamara to take over Russack's position after Russack resigned.

More than four years after the 2001 terrorist attacks, the federal government still lacks processes and policies to improve how agencies share terrorism-related and sensitive-but-unclassified (SBU) information, the Government Accountability Office said today in a new report.

“Until governmentwide policies and processes on sharing are in place, the federal government will lack a comprehensive road map to improve the exchange of critical information needed to protect the homeland,” the report states.

GAO found that the 26 agencies it reviewed have 56 different SBU designations. No governmentwide rules, however, determine how they are applied or how they differ.

“Sometimes agencies used different labels and handling requirements for similar information and, conversely, similar labels and requirements for very different kinds of information,” the report states.

More than half of the 26 agencies reported they have problems sharing information, the report states. The Homeland Security Department, for instance, told GAO that it had posted SBU information for state and local partners to public Internet sites.

Most agencies lack controls on the kinds, number and training of employees who can make designations, the report states. The government does not have requirements for those kinds of internal controls.

“Not having these recommended internal controls for effective programs in place increases the probability that the designations could be misapplied, potentially restricting the sharing of material unnecessarily or resulting in dissemination of information that should be restricted,” according to the report.

Additionally, many users are not connected to information-sharing systems and thus lack the information they need to fight terrorism, the report states.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is responsible for creating a governmentwide Information Sharing Environment (ISE). John Russack, ODNI’s former information-sharing program manager, told Congress last November that he lacked the money and staff to fulfill his responsibilities.

Russack resigned Jan. 26. In March, President Bush nominated Thomas McNamara to fill the position. McNamara has served in the Bush administration as special assistant to the president for national security affairs and senior director for international programs and African affairs.