From: InfoSecurity.com

The Obama administration is proposing to spend $548 million on cybersecurity research and development (R&D) in FY 2012, a 35% increase from the amount spent in FY 2010.

According to a slide presentation by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, the FY 2012 cybersecurity R&D and education spending request includes: new National Science Foundation programs in the science of cybersecurity and game-changing research; increased Department of Energy investment in industrial control-system cybersecurity; new Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency initiatives in information assurance, survivability, security by design, and insider threat mitigation; and support for the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education and the National Strategy for Trusted Identifies in Cyberspace.

The cybersecurity spending is part of an overall $147.9 billion FY 2012 budget for federal science and technology (S&T) programs, an increase of $772 million from the amount spent in FY 2010. The FY 2012 S&T budget increases nondefense R&D to $66.8 billion, up $4.1 billion or 6.5% from FY 2010 spending. It calls for a federal research portfolio (basic and applied) totaling $66.1 billion, up $6.9 billion or 11.6%.

“In order to address the challenges ahead, the administration’s cybersecurity team will continue its vigorous and extensive build-out of technical and policy protection capabilities for government systems, expand its partnerships with the private sector, and work with Congress to clarify roles and authorities. The administration will assist and strengthen the abilities of federal agencies to protect themselves”, according to the White House’s FY 2012 Special Topics budget document.