White House budget to go big on cyber

Cybersecurity funding will be prominently featured in the White House’s fiscal 2016 budget.

The Obama Administration’s proposal earmarks $14 billion to support government-wide efforts to defend the country against cyberattacks, an increase of nearly $1 billion over fiscal 2015's offering. The budget also sets aside $105 million for 25 agencies to establish or enhance a digital service team, something meant to bring tech sector expertise to agencies’ information technology, including cybersecurity. With its proposed $14 billion in cyber spending, the White House aims to “make cyberspace more secure, allowing the government to more rapidly protect American citizens, systems and information from cyber threats,” according to the Office of Management and Budget. The main focus of the digital service team funding will go toward “citizen-facing programs,” such as agency websites. These teams are meant to emulate the squad of tech sector elites that was brought in to repair HealthCare.gov after its rocky start. Part of this task includes working to “improve agency cybersecurity and cyber readiness,” the OMB said.