The White House is asking Congress to appropriate $9.8 billion for federal agencies to improve their cybersecurity in a proposal that highlights the breach of IT management contractor SolarWinds at the end of last year.
“The President’s Budget includes approximately $9.8 billion for civilian cybersecurity funding, which supports the protection of Federal IT and our Nation’s most valuable information including the personal information of the American public,” reads an analytical perspective the administration released Friday along with the budget proposal.
That’s about $1.2 billion more than the administration estimates civilian agencies will spend on cybersecurity in 2021, a 14% increase, according to the document.
The budget proposal repeatedly mentions the SolarWinds hacking campaign that compromised nine federal agencies and hundreds of private-sector companies. The government attributed the intrusion to Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service and the budget reflects a focus on the Kremlin along with Beijing.
“The Budget prioritizes the need to counter the threat from China while also deterring destabilizing behavior by Russia,” the White House said.
The administration’s plan to improve the government’s cybersecurity is closely tied to generally modernizing its information technology.
“To support agencies as they modernize, strengthen, and secure antiquated information systems and bolster Federal cybersecurity, the Budget provides $500 million for the Technology Modernization Fund, an additional $110 million for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and $750 million in additional investments tailored to respond to lessons learned from the SolarWinds incident,” the proposal reads.
The analytical perspective includes a breakdown of how the administration anticipates Chief Financial Officer Act agencies will spend the requested funds according to the five functions of the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s cybersecurity framework. Most of the money—$3.6 billion—would ..
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