Federal IT Security Spending Expected to Jump

The federal government is expected to increase its IT security spending by 27 percent over the next five years, says a new study released last week.

According to a TechWeb News article, the report by government market research firm INPUT says the effects of 9/11 have changed the way federal agencies are approaching cybersecurity. "Continued fear over potential terrorist attacks has caused an almost desperate need for improvement of current standards and levels of security," Marcus Fedeli, INPUT's manager of federal opportunity products, said in a statement. "New requirements will cause civilian IT security spending to grow steadily this year."

The INPUT report says federal agencies still aren't operating in a generally secure environment, noting the government's recent failing D+ grade on a recent FISMA Report Card.

The TechWeb article says that about 17 percent of civilian agencies' Fiscal Year 2005 spending is earmarked for IT security, which represents about $1.6 billion. The leading IT security spenders are Homeland Security, Energy, Transportation, and Health and Human Services.

To read the full article, click here: http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/dailyarchives.jhtml?articleId=159900950