CybersecurityCybersecurity funding increasing despite sequestration
Sequestration-mandated cuts continue, but more money will continue to go to cybersecurity, and job opportunities in the field will continue to grow. The Defense Department intends to spend $23 billion on cybersecurity over the next five years, and that it is seeking more than $4.6 billion for cybersecurity in 2014 fiscal year, an 18 percent jump from the 2013 fiscal year.
Sequestration-mandated cuts continue, but more money will continue to go to cybersecurity, and job opportunities in the field will continue to grow.
The Washington Post notes that the Defense Department intends to spend $23 billion on cybersecurity over the next five years, and that it is seeking more than $4.6 billion for cybersecurity in 2014 fiscal year, an 18 percent jump from the 2013 fiscal year.
The requests by the Pentagon indicate that the Pentagon wants to invest more money in the cybersecurity, but the requests are lower than the spending figures previously released by the Office of Management and Budget. The OMB documents show spending for information technology security which is more than double the Pentagon figures.
An analysis by Deltek shows the difference in the figures could be related to personnel costs or a difference in the way agencies calculate how many IT workers they may need.
The 2012 OMB report noted that 33 percent of all executive branch agency IT security employees are contractors, a drop from the 36 percent figure in last year’s report.
Despite the drop, it is clear that the Defense Department has prioritized cybersecurity, and it intends the get the money to accomplish its cybersecurity goals.
