The General Services Administration headquarters in Washington. (Mandel Ngan/AFP/Getty Images)

The federal technology office has a cute name — 18F, after its location in Northwest Washington — and the cultivated aura of a new Silicon Valley firm on the fast track.

Rather than the stodgy image of an old-line government agency, 18F says it is “built in the spirit of America’s top tech start-ups” as a “civic consultancy for government, enabling agencies to rapidly deploy tools and services to create great services for the public.”

But if a General Services Administration (GSA) internal watchdog report is correct, 18F, not yet three years old, moves too rapidly by cutting corners and violating procedures, therefore raising sharp questions about the quality of its public service.

The latest in a series of Office of Inspector General (OIG) reports on 18F is the most damaging. In October, OIG said poor financial planning led to financial loses. In May, OIG alerted management to a data breach linked to noncompliant use of software. The current report names names and points fingers directly at “management failures” for “the breakdown in 18F’s compliance with fundamental GSA IT security requirements.”

One of those names is Aaron Snow, 18F’s co-founder and former executive director. He praised 18F’s security team as “absolutely world-class” and said its “security record is exemplary.”

“This report is not about security,” he added by email. “It’s about compliance. And that’s why government falls so far behind the rest of the world when it comes to technology.”

Among the many problems cited Tuesday:

• 18F “routinely disregarded and circumvented fundamental security policies and guidelines”
• “none of the 18 information systems operated by 18F had proper authorizations to operate during the entire time period of June 1, 2015, to July 15, 2016”
• “18F created its own security assessment and authorization process, which circumvented GSA IT”
• “the 18F Director of Infrastructure improperly appointed himself as the Information Systems Security Officer for 18F”
• “18F disregarded GSA IT security policies for operating and obtaining information technology, and for using nonofficial email.”

A GSA statement said it “considers IT security a top priority and takes the GSA Inspector General’s report seriously. GSA agrees with the IG’s recommendations and notes that there were gaps in compliance with our CIO security requirements. … GSA is committed to complying with government-wide standards while maintaining our ability to bring innovative IT solutions to government. We look forward to continuing to serve those who rely on our solutions.”