Paying for Classified Security

You'd probably think that since Sept. 11, the federal government's costs for securing classified information would have increased at a steady rate year after year. That wouldn't be quite right. According to the Information Security Oversight Office's 2009 Cost Report, which was just released, the amount the federal government spent on information security for classified data was$4.26 billion in 2009, down slightly from $4.34 billion in 2008. In fact, the amount of spending on securing networks storing classified data hasn't increased at quick clip since 2004, when the amount spent on security was $3.9 billion. Of course, spending shot up right after Sept. 11. In 2001, the cost of securing classified networks was just $2.5 billion.

Securing systems accounts for about half of the total amount the government spends to keep classified information safe, including physical security, such making buildings safe, and doing background checks on personnel. The total in 2009 was $9.93 billion - a tad more than twice as much.

Of course, just like the federal information technology budget, which comes in at about $80 billion not counting the black IT budget that the intelligence agencies spend (which totals another $50 billion plus, according to some sources), this report does not include the information security spending on classified networks managed by the CIA and the national Security Agency, as the Wall Street Journal blog Washington Wire pointed out. It's safe to say that if you included that spending, the amount would be a slight bit more.