25 Feb 11. Despite a ballooning federal debt and intense pressures on the federal budget, cyber security has become Washington’s new growth industry. The U.S. government has spent over $600bn on information technology over the last decade, with a growing amount devoted to cyber security. In its new Pentagon budget request, the Obama administration designated $2.3bn to strengthen Department of Defense cyber security operations, including activities of the Pentagon’s new Cyber Command and half a billion dollars for new cyber technology research. These figures exclude growing spending on “black” cyber security activities, embedded within the approximately $80bn annual intelligence budget. Given the proliferation of cyber threats from foreign governments, terrorists, and criminals as well as the importance of a secure Internet to America’s economy, increased federal attention to cyber security makes good sense. However, these vast sums have been allocated without a comprehensive strategy to guide them in a climate of widespread anxiety, governmental disorganization, private contractors eager for new business, high degrees of secrecy, and enormous technical complexity. As the new Congress considers the president’s budget, lawmakers must ensure that the U.S. government does not spend aimlessly on cyber security. The United States cannot afford another uncoordinated U.S. government response like the one made while countering the threat of transnational terrorism after 9/11. A “spend first, ask questions later” attitude characterized these efforts all too often and, haunted by memories of 9/11, Congress proved reluctant to question expenditures. At least 263 organizations were created or reorganized while hundreds of billions of dollars flowed toward stopping an amorphous terrorist threat. Such feverish activity led to waste, diverted American attention from worsening situations in Afghanistan and beyond, and created a sprawling bureaucracy. Unless the U.S. government quickly establishes its priorities for cyber security, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past. The Departments of Commerce, Defense, Homeland Security, Justice, and State, among others, are all actively developing cyber security initiatives. The Pentagon’s cyber bureaucracy alone will soon include more than 40,000 personnel under the supervision of Cyber Command. (Source: The Hill)
02 Mar 11. Cyber terrorism has been announced the biggest threat to national security. Protecting access to information of vital importance to governance is the biggest challenge today, as the information domain has proven very attractive as the next area of conflict and warfare. Therefore, cyber security is on top of most agendas of governments and companies, what was showed at the latest Munich Security Conference this year. Frost & Sullivan’s upcoming web conference will look at market trends and opportunities in the cyber security sector. Balaji Srimoolanathan, Frost & Sullivan’s Programme Manager for Aerospace, Defence & Security group has completed an extensive analysis of the security sector and will present these new findings at upcoming Analyst Briefing scheduled on Wednesday, 9 March, at 16.00 GMT.
“The need for achieving complete situational awareness through seamless dissemination of assured information is driving the demand for mandating security measures within the information environment,” says Balaji Srimoolanathan.
A long-term goal for the industry is achieving cost effective solutions, therefore companies and governments are increasingly supporting research and development (R&D) projects. Driven by the increase in the dependence on information the cyber security market is witnessing an unprecedented growth in the next decade. Aggressive product innovation and improvement will drive wider adoption of cyber security solutions.
“With the advancements and implementation of Information and Communication Technologies, the role of information in governance is paramount.