Cyber Operations

Cybersecurity has been an increasingly important area of focus across the public and private sectors, and it is no wonder that the budget request released by the White House for Fiscal Year 2020 has seen an increase in the total amount of requested for Cybersecurity funding. The request states, “Cybersecurity is an important component of the Administration’s IT modernization efforts, and the President remains dedicated to securing the Federal enterprise from cyber-related threats.” The total funding requested for the FY2020 is $17.4 billion, an increase of approximately 5% or $790 million compared to FY2019 distributed across both Defense and Civilian agencies with the majority of it going to Defense budgets. The Civilian agencies with the largest requested Cybersecurity budgets in FY2020 are the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Department of Energy (DOE).

Overall, the DHS actually had a slight decrease in total funding requested for Cybersecurity compared to the FY2019 budget. However, it remains the leader of the Civilian agencies by a significant margin with a total Cybersecurity budget request of $1.9 billion, due largely in part to the creation of CISA (Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency) in 2018, and its expanding mission and increase in areas of responsibility. The creation of the CISA, previously named the National Protection and Programs Directorate (NPPD), remains under the oversight of DHS, but now exists as its own agency, which gains access to a larger budget and gives it a higher profile, allowing for a broader of abilities for executing its mission. The latest budget request for CISA would continue funding for central federal cybersecurity programs that have been absorbed by the agency through the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program as well as exploring innovation programs in the field of cybersecurity. About half of that covers the National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS), as well as a significant portion going to The National Cybersecurity and Communications Integration Center (NCCIC). It appears the administration intends for CISA to take center stage in coordinating the nation’s efforts in cybersecurity. The list of their objectives is lengthy and broad reaching, from directing the upgrading and development of the nation’s civilian cyberinfrastructure, to increases in the depth and abilities of the nation’s Cyber Security workforce. As the agency grows and begins to fulfill its intended role, contractors can expect to see more and more opportunities for Cyber related requirements released with the agencies name on them.

The Department of Energy is another civilian agency at the forefront the governments ever increasing Cybersecurity efforts. Tasked with safeguarding not only the nation’s energy supply, the agency is working across the public and private sectors to protect the nation’s most vital and vulnerable energy resources. In the FY2020 budget, DOE is marked for $557 million for cybersecurity. A comprehensive Cyber strategy report was released highlighting efforts for the following for 2018-2020.

• $157 million is intended for grid cyber funding under the recently established Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response (CESER).
• This is an increase of $61 million compared to the budget requested in FY2019.
• An additional $37 million will also be allocated to the Energy Department’s cyber efforts, with even more anticipated to be requested as research is conducted into determining the full scope of the energy sectors vulnerability to manmade and natural threats.
• They have also proposed another $156 million for an in agency research office dedicated to cybersecurity for infrastructure.

Many of the upcoming efforts that DOE has officially announced, focus on funding new research and innovations. However, with the efforts surrounding readiness assessments and workforce training, contractors can expect to see opportunities focusing on IT Support Services as well as Training and Test services.

Much like Homeland Security, the U.S. Department of Justice plays a critical role in the government's efforts to strengthen the nation's abilities and the field of Cybersecurity. The department has a budget request of $881 million for FY2020, a 6.9% increase from FY2019. In the coming fiscal year, the focus on infrastructure improvements and data center consolidations will remain a high priority. Vendors can most likely expect to see opportunities focusing around IT hardware purchasing, Operations and Maintenance, and Facility Support Services.

Some other allocations of note, the FBI has proposed adding $70 million to its cybersecurity budget to support the development of advanced technical capabilities as well as the development strategies specifically designed to counter malicious cyber-attacks. The White House expressed its wish to increase the number of FBI employees who investigate cyberattacks as well as additional counterintelligence employees to work on cybercrime. A total of $82.2 million will go to cyber investigations and prosecutions. Of which $1.5 million will go to the Counterintelligence and Export Control section of the National Security Division, which is an 8.5 percent increase over its FY2019 budget, for the review of foreign investments in U.S. exports as well as combating and investigating cyberattacks committed by foreign agencies.

Cyber operations play a significant role within the United States military, which is why in the fiscal year 2020 the Department of Defense (DOD) as requested that Congress allocate approximately $9.6 billion for cybersecurity activities which are about 55% of the entire cyber budget for 2020. Not only has the cyber budget increased, but the overall funding allocated to the DOD has gone from $686 billion in 2019 to $718 billion in 2020 which is about a 5% increase. Over the past 3 years, cybersecurity funding requests have been increasing due to countless cyber-attacks, therefore more funding is required in order to ensure the DOD’s three primary missions are achieved by are safeguarding DOD networks, information and systems as well as military commander support while defending the nation. The increasing frequency of cyber-attacks are, ultimately results in the DOD placing a high priority on cybersecurity and cyber operations and will continue to do so in the coming years. Of the $9.6 billion for cyber funding, $5.4 billion is to diminish the number of presents and impending threats. In addition, $60.9 million is being designated to modernizing the DOD’s multi-cloud which collectively will enable the United States military to maintain and strengthen its current competitive advantage among other international attacks.

• The total funding allocated for the DOD in 2020 can further be broken down to include the Department of the Navy(DON), Department of the Air force (AF) and Department of the Army (DOA).
• Of the $718 billion, $205.6 billion is being designated to DON which also includes $26.4 million for cyber operations. Furthermore, $204 billion and $191 billion is being allocated to the AF and DOA respectively.
• The AF, in particular, is attributing a greater amount of funds towards cyber operation activities in relation to other departments with the DOD.
• Approximately $270.6 million will be allocated to enhance the development of cyber technology, enable a greater amount of cyber activities, cyber warfare operations, defensive cyberspace operations, and rapid cyber acquisition. The DOA will be allocating approximately $114.3 million in cyber operations to include cyberspace operations force sand force support and defensive cyber tool development.

There are many cybersecurity projects in the making but one stands out in particular which is being endorsed by the Air Force – it’s a new $35 million offensive cyber program is possibly forthcoming in 2020. It’s abundantly clear and no longer adequate to just focus on protecting networks, which is why the USAF is taking an offensive approach. This program is said to improve a few major areas which include cyber operation readiness, development, testing evaluation, and accelerated prototyping. In the years to come, taking a more aggressive approach in terms of how to combat cyber-attacks will enable various departments to achieve a competitive advantage.

Similarly, the DOA is looking to build onto its current cyber arsenal by working in tandem with the U.S. Cyber Command to fulfill its arsenal needs. Although the DOD allocates a tremendous amount of funding to cyber operations and cybersecurity activities, there are still divisions within the Department of Defense, like the naval warfare service branch, that are currently struggling to evolve. According to the Secretary of the Navy Cybersecurity Readiness Review, “Recognizing the need to institute a cybersecurity culture within the U.S. Navy is not a new concept, however, the “getting it done” has been the problem. For over five years, senior leadership acknowledged that risks in the cyber domain were growing significantly given increased adversary sophistication and the military’s growing dependency on information to fight and win”. There are more unique approaches, new processes and information than ever before so it will be interesting to see what methods are taken by the Navy this upcoming year being that $26.4 million is being requested towards cyber activities.

In conclusion, the increased request for cyber funding in 2020 is a direct result of the many ongoing and emerging cyber-attacks witnessed by all government agencies defense and civilian alike. Although the U.S. experiences many cyber-attacks each year, not only is this a domestic issue, but global. Controversial and complex, the lack of evolution, new technology and consistent cyber practices have begun to impact the interest of America, its allies and every continent abroad. Due to the ever-increasing importance of cyber operations, the size of funding requests and budget allocations will only get larger, which in turn will create more opportunities for IT contractors that perform general as well as specialized services.

 

Opportunities

GovWin Opp ID	Requirement/Agency	Description	Anticipated RFP Timeframe *Deltek Estimate
179164	CONSOLIDATED IT AND CYBER SECURITY SUPPORT SERVICES FOR NNSA OCIO, DOE	The Department of Energy, National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), Office of the Chief Information Officer, may have a continuing requirement for Consolidated IT and Cyber Security Support Services.	Q2 FY2020
179295	INFORMATION ASSURANCE CYBER SECURITY AND RISK BASED REVIEWS FOR JOINT AUTHORIZATION BOARD JAB PROVISIONAL AUTHORIZATION	The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Information Technology Acquisition Center may have an ongoing requirement for information assurance, cybersecurity, and risk-based reviews of FedRAMP cloud service candidates for Joint Authorization Board (JAB) provisional authorization (P-ATO).	Q4 FY2020
179239	NGA TRANSPORT AND CYBER SECURITY (TCS)	The Department of Defense (DOD), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), has a requirement for Transport and Cyber Security (TCS) in lieu of ITEMS Transport II.	Q4 FY2019
163492	CYBER SECURITY SUPPORT	The Department of the Navy, Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division may have a continuing requirement for Information Assurance Management (IAM), Computer Network Defense (CND), Certification & Accreditation (C&A), and Embedded Information Assurance Officer (IAO)/Information Assurance Manager Support service areas supporting NAWCAD, Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) and associated customers.	Q4 FY2020