2007 DHS Budget: Enhancing Cybersecurity Through New Partnerships

Although President Bush's proposed budget for fiscal 2007 (starting Oct. 1, 2006) increases spending for key cybersecurity programs, it is not clear how that money would be spent, raising concerns in the information security industry. One of the biggest security-related boosts would be a $35 million infusion to the "critical infrastructure outreach and partnerships" initiative within the Department of Homeland Security. The goal of that effort is to increase cooperation and information sharing among DHS, state and local governments and infrastructure providers. Thirty million dollars of that allocation would go toward implementing partnership plans for private industry verticals like information technology, finance and electrical utilities.

The 2007 DHS budget also includes a $25 million increase for its National Cyber Security Division (NCSD), which is responsible for issues such as software assurance and computer security in federal agencies and, by extension, the private sector. John Sabo, director of security and privacy initiatives for Islandia, N.Y.-based vendor CA Inc. (Formerly Computer Associates International), said budget increases for cybersecurity and industry-specific partnerships are important. Sabo is the new chair of the Information Sharing and Analysis Centers Council, the umbrella organization that oversees a dozen vendor groups that advocate cooperation with DHS, including one for information technology firms.

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