Obama Wants Big Boost in Cybersecurity Spending

15 February 2011 | 12:55 PM ET | Matt Liebowitz, SecurityNewsDaily Staff Writer

The White House’s proposed 2012 budget includes a sizable increase in spending for cybersecurity research and development, in particular programs to safeguard the nation’s critical infrastructure networks from attack.

President Obama’s budget earmarks $459 million to the National Cyber Security Division for preventing and protecting against cyberattacks to the nation’s infrastructure, economic networks and government computer systems.

Philip Coyle, associate director for national security, said in yesterday’s (Feb. 14) budget briefing that cybersecurity spending across the board will add up to $548 million, a 35 percent increase from last year, Computerworld reported.

The total sum allotted in the proposed budget to the Department of Homeland Security — which oversees national cybersecurity — is $43.2 billion, a $309 million increase from last year.

Although the budget mentions neither WikiLeaks nor the Stuxnet worm , which targeted nuclear control systems in Iran, Computerworld believes “the fingerprints of both these incidents” are evident in the proposal.

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