The FBI must continue to improve intelligence gathering efforts as national security threats are outpacing the agency's ability to counter them, according to a report released Wednesday. An audit of the agency requested by Congress noted the headway made since the September 11 attacks, which brought criticism that law enforcement agencies were not sharing information. The report said in many ways the agency still came up short, as worries continue that groups such as ISIS are exerting their influence on Americans and could strike on US soil. Criticized: A report requested by Congress noted the FBI's improvement since the September 11 terrorist attacks but knocked the agency failing to properly gather and analyze human intelligence. Pictured: FBI Director James Comey testifies . 'These threats are not just knocking on the door. They're in the room,' said former Representative Timothy Roemer. Roemer was a member of the original commission that prepared a report in the aftermath of the 2001 attacks, faulting the FBI and CIA for intelligence shortcomings. The newly commissioned report was tasked with reviewing how the FBI had responded to recommendations laid out in the original investigation and how it has handled counterterrorism over the last decade. It's release coincides with FBI Director James Comey's visit to Washington, where he has asked for $8.48billion to boost funding for new initiatives, including cyber activities. The report called for the agency to further integrate intelligence gathering and analysis, and tasked it with 'professionalizing' its intelligence analysts, strategically using analysts in specialized roles. The report emphasized the agency's development of human intelligence is not improving along with efforts to share intelligence among agencies. Scrutiny: The report coincided with Comey's trip to Washington to defend an $8.48billion request for extra funding in front of a House Appropriations subcommittee . 'This imbalance needs urgently to be addressed to meet growing and increasingly complex national security threats, including from adaptive and increasingly tech-savvy terrorists, more brazen computer hackers, and more technically capable, global cyber syndicates,' the report stated. The report also faulted leadership changes for slowing improvement. It recommended the FBI coordinate with private sector entities as a way to counter cyber threats. The report covered five terror plots that had occurred over the last several years, which includes the 2009 Fort Hood shooting and the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. Though it found communication and coordination hiccups between branches of the FBI, the report said there was no certainty the attacks could have been averted if these metrics were improved. It cited some cases where information that could have been leveraged to forecast attacks was not gathered or analyzed by the FBI. A 2012 rant at a mosque from Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnev wasn't caught by the FBI at the time, and Afghan-American cab driver Najibullah Zazi was not identified until his plan to blow up the New York City subway was thwarted, according to the report. 'What's written in there is not a surprise to anybody in the FBI `cause we have squeezed those cases trying to understand what could we do better,' Comey said.
An audit of the agency followed up on recommendations made in the wake of the September 11 attacks . The report found the agency has improvement to make in the area of human intelligence and must try to better utilize analysts . It looked at five attacks or thwarted attacks and found some intelligence did not reach the agency or get properly analyzed . The report comes as FBI Director James Comey traveled to Washington to defend an $8.5billion funding request .