NDAA bolsters cyber security spending

The United States’ Senate Armed Services Committee has approved the National Defense Authorisation Act for the 2022 financial year, with amendments including an increase to cyber security spending.

The bill, approved by 23 committee members (three opposed), authorises an increase of US$268.4 million in funding for cyber security efforts across the US Department of Defence.

This is in addition to the $9.8 billion requested by US President Joe Biden in the budget earlier this year.

The funding aims to secure federal civilian networks and protect infrastructure, while also supporting efforts to share information, standards, and best practices with critical infrastructure partners and American businesses.

“It prioritises programs and policies to strengthen our cyber defences, improve readiness, and accelerate research and development of advanced technologies that will give our forces strategic advantages,” chairman of the committee US senator Jack Reed said.

Other measures aimed at strengthening the DOD’s cyber security posture, outlined in the NDAA, include:

requiring the development of a joint zero trust strategy and a model architecture for the Department of Defense Information Network and a data management strategy;
requiring a program to demonstrate and assess an automated security validation capability to assist the Department in cyber security efforts; and
directing an assessment of the utility and cost-benefits of using capabilities to make risk-based vulnerability remediation decisions, identify key cyber terrain and assets, identify single-node mission dependencies, and monitor for changes in mission threat execution.

The bill also assigns responsibility for directly controlling and managing the planning, programming, budgeting, and execution of resources to maintain the Cyber Mission Forces to the commander, CYBERCOM — currently General Paul Nakasone.

Charbel Kadib

News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media

Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres