From: CIO
Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program would bolster federal continuity, as well as boost security practices at state, local level.
By Antone Gonsalves
CSO— Plans for a $6 billion federal shopping hub to help government agencies protect their unclassified networks from cyberattacks sparked optimism among experts who believed the program could significantly improve security.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) could award contracts for the cybersecurity program as early as this month, Bloomberg reported. The so-called Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program could become the largest of its kind in the U.S. government.
The plan entails more than just providing security hardware, software and consulting services to federal, state and local agencies. The program would also act as an early warning system by continuously monitoring networks to identify vulnerabilities that could be exploited by hackers.
“The government is basically putting funds towards continuous monitoring with a focus on reducing the attack surface,” Ron Gula, chief executive of Tenable Network Security, said on Wednesday. “This is a great thing.”
Centralizing cybersecurity would also have the benefit of helping to create a standard architecture across agencies, Murray Jennex, an associate professor of information system security at San Diego State University, said.
“A central hub will make it easier to buy integrated solutions that should work together and not have to be forced to work together,” Jennex said.
However, because DHS funding of such a project is new, there is a concern over how the program will eventually be administered.
“This may turn out to not be a negative, but right now there are many questions from Tenable customers and partners,” Gula said.
While large, centrally managed purchasing centers usually lower product costs by buying in quantity, they also take longer to replace or update inventory, Jennex said.
Nevertheless, Tom Gann, vice president for government relations at Intel-owned McAfee, believed the program would help state and local governments bolster security by providing a closer relationship with DHS.
Leave a Reply