Ten win Interior contract

The Interior Department awarded an approximately $2 million blanket purchase agreement to 10 companies for certification and accreditation activities.

The contract will stretch across the next three years.

The companies involved include AlphaInsight Corp.; Breakwater Security Associates; DSD Laboratories Inc.; First Info Tech Services; JANUS Associates Inc.; Integrated Management Services Inc.; PEC Solutions Inc.; Science Applications International Corp.; SeNet International Corp., and Telos Corp., Xacta Corp.'s parent company. Interior officials will establish a statement of work that bureau and office officials can use to get support for developing or updating system security plans, as well as assessments of risk and vulnerability. The statement of work will cover information technology system contingency plans, security testing evaluations and enterprise configuration management plans. Vendors doing work under the contract can help Interior officials understand their IT risks and comply with federal security regulations, said Richard Tracy, chief security officer at Xacta.

"Agencies can inventory their systems, certify and accredit the security of those systems, then create the myriad compliance reports the agencies are required to submit," he said.