2017 federal budget includes $19B for cybersecurity

Dive Brief:

This morning the Obama administration released its 2017 budget, calling for $19 billion to support a "broad-based cybersecurity strategy" to help secure the government, critical infrastructure and "important technologies."
The administration wants to fund a long-term cybersecurity strategy to protect American's privacy, help ensure public safety and sustain economic and national security efforts.
The administration also wants to secure the federal government's "antiquated IT systems," proposing $3.1 billion to modernize and invest in next-generation tools and workforce.

Dive Insight:

The White House's new budget may help appease industry experts who have implored federal government agencies to invest more in cybersecurity, especially as private sector spending had nearly doubled.

President Barack Obama has prioritized cybersecurity as "one of the most important challenges" the United States faces, with cyber threats at every level of government. The administration proposed a 35% increase in cybersecurity investment from the 2016 budget, citing the need to modernize outdated technology, create a coordinated approach to federal cybersecurity and improve the IT workforce gaps.

Private companies have also struggled to establish strong cybersecurity defenses, but the federal government is a much more unwieldy entity, mired in outdated legacy systems.

With its proposed investment, the Obama administration is trying to ensure that a mass data breach does not happen again. It is doubtful officials will ever forget the OPM data breach that exposed the personal information of 21.5 million Americans. The budget announcement came just after a hacker posted stolen directory data from both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security.

Even after extensive investment, agencies have had difficulties with cybersecurity modernization efforts. A recent report found that the DHS was falling short of its outlined cybersecurity objectives. DHS has struggled with its implantation of the National Cybersecurity Protection System, with only five federal agencies implement it to the degree they could receive intrusion prevention services.