February 5th, 2008
Federal budget recommends US-CERT get $242 million
According to the proposed budget released on Monday, “a more robust US-CERT will increase the cyber security posture of the Federal Government and help ensure our networks are protected.”
Beefing up US-CERT is a welcome development, but it’s unclear whether the funding will actually arrive. Typically, the White House tosses out budget recommendations and then the haggling begins–and then never really ends.
US-CERT is lumped into the Department of Homeland Security’s budget, which in President Bush’s budget is targeted for an 11 percent increase. Bush proposed that the DHS get roughly $6.68 billion in new funding with much of that sum going to a government-wide effort to protect networks. How much of that tally goes to improving cybersecurity is classified. The fiscal 2009 budget recommends the DHS get $50.5 billion in funding.
Among some of the notable bullet points highlighted by the DHS:
- $100 million: The sum requested for the DHS’ E-Verify program–an automated system to verify name, date of birth and Social Security Number along with any immigration information. This system would cross-check information against other federal databases.
- $293.5 million: Sum allocated to the National Cyber Security Division. The goal: “Further deploy our EINSTEIN system on Federal networks to protect against cyber threats and intrusions.” The US-CERT funding is lumped in this one.
- $23.8 million: Total requested to consolidate 17 of the DHS’s legacy data centers to two enterprise-wide data centers. “This consolidation will result in improved cyber security, information sharing and configuration management,” according to the DHS.
Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
