House boosts info security funding

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2000/0605/web-dod-06-09-00.asp

BY Dan Verton
06/09/2000

Congress targeted the Pentagons "most serious vulnerabilities" with a
$150 million increase in the fiscal 2001 Defense appropriations bill
for information assurance and computer network security programs.

The House approved a total of more than $250 million for Defense
Department information technology programs, including $36 million for
hardware and software designed to help the Pentagon monitor its global
networks for suspicious activity.

The funding boost comes in the wake of the "love bug" computer virus,
which infected hundreds of thousands of computers worldwide, including
almost every major federal agency. Although such virus attacks have
highlighted the gaps in the nations critical infrastructure, the
threat is actually much more serious, according to a House
Appropriations Committee report on the bill.

"The threats posed by such seemingly random acts in themselves real
pale in comparison to the potential dangers posed by those who seek to
damage American interests," the report said.

Congress praised the Pentagons "Defense in Depth" information security
strategy and recommended that DOD be used as an example for all
government agencies to follow. "The committee believes that a
concerted, focused effort is needed to protect key information
systems, not only by those within the national security community but
at all levels of government," the report stated.

Although there is no "silver bullet" to the problem of information
security, "a more appropriate response is a broad approach intended to
create multiple levels of protection and avoidance of any single point
of failure," the report said.

The bill also included:

     * $35 million for new digital secure phones.

     * $20 million to ensure security technologies are built in to new
       cell phones.

     * $15 million for information security training and education
       programs.

The committee also earmarked $18.6 million for departmentwide
public-key infrastructure development.

ISN is sponsored by SecurityFocus.com
---
To unsubscribe email LISTSERV () SecurityFocus com with a message body of
"SIGNOFF ISN".