U.S. Government Spending Billions on Cybersecurity

In recent months, the House of Representatives has been hard at
work drafting various spending bills for the 2023 fiscal year.
While these bills provide funding for a vast array of government
programs and agencies, there was one thing that really stands out.
Collectively, the bills that are making their way through the house
allocate a staggering $15.6 billion to
cybersecurity spending^[1].

As you could probably guess, the lion’s share of this spending
($11.2 billion) is being allocated to the Department of Defense. It
is worth noting, however, that nearly $3 billion is going to the
Cyber Security and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

Although it may be tempting to think of these cybersecurity
budget allocations as just another example of excessive government
spending, it’s worth considering what a $15.6 billion cash infusion
will mean for the IT security industry. It’s equally important to
consider why the US government finds it necessary to ramp up its
cybersecurity spending to such a degree.

What Does Increased Government Cybersecurity Spending Mean for
the Future?

So, what does all of this cybersecurity spending mean for the
future? For starters, it means that 2023 is going to be a good year
for cybersecurity companies who are authorized to sell their
products to the government. Such companies will likely see record
profits and may end up hiring additional staff in order to help
meet the sudden demand for their products and services.

More importantly, all this spending will almost certainly drive
innovation. In the past (pre-cloud), security companies would
generally release a new version of their products each year to keep
up with an ever-changing security landscape. These new versions
almost always contained new features that were designed to entice
customers and to get a leg up on competitors (who would inevitably
add a comparable feature to the next version of their own
product).

Although the cloud era has forced security companies to change
the way that they do things, the basic concepts from years past
still apply. The main difference is that the cloud has given these
companies the ability to release new features and capabilities much
more rapidly than might have been possible in the past.

Investing in Cybersecurity Innovation

All of this is to say that innovation has always been an
important part of the cybersecurity industry. Security companies
have always invested resources into developing new tools and
capabilities that will help them to stay ahead of cybercriminals
and competitors alike.

With billions of dollars in government spending being poured
into the security industry, we will almost certainly see security
products and cloud services eventually take an exponential leap
forward as a direct result of being able to invest more heavily in
product development and security research.

This innovation will not be limited solely to security product
vendors and cloud providers. Remember that CISA is going to be
receiving $2.9 billion. CISA has historically provided
cybersecurity guidance and recommendations to government agencies
and to the private sector.

These recommendations are not pulled from thin air but are the
product of research. The increased funding will allow CISA to
engage in even more cybersecurity research, ultimately positioning
it to produce better recommendations.

Why is the Government Spending More on Cyber Security?

The increased budget allocations for cybersecurity are most likely tied to a White House directive
from March 21, 2022^[2]
stressing the need for increased cyber defenses. This directive
follows a long line of high-profile security incidents, such as
last year’s attack on the Colonial
Pipeline^[3], which caused fuel
shortages along the east coast.

It is worth noting that this statement was not directed
exclusively at government agencies. The statement also encouraged
private sector businesses to shore up their cyber security defenses
in accordance with CISA guidelines.

Beef up your own cybersecurity initiatives, without the price
tag

CISA offers numerous recommendations for how organizations can
improve their overall cybersecurity, but many of these guidelines
pertain to passwords.

If your organization isn’t quite ready to make such a hefty
investment in cybersecurity, it’s a good idea to start with
quantifiable metrics to see where your Active Directory is (or
isn’t!) at risk. Gather your own organization-specific
cybersecurity measurements with a free, read-only Password Audit from
Specops^[4].

This scan will generate reports demonstrating the effectiveness
of your organization’s password policy and existing password
security vulnerabilities. This free tool can also help you to
identify other vulnerabilities, such as accounts that are using
passwords that are known to have been leaked or passwords that do
not adhere to compliance standards or industry best practices.
Download the Specops Password Auditor for
free today^[5].