Senate Bill Boosts Homeland Security Cyber Funding

The Homeland Security Department would receive an $86 million boost in cybersecurity money over the Trump administration’s request in a funding bill forwarded by a Senate Appropriations panel Tuesday.

The $1.1 billion cybersecurity appropriation includes $406 million for a collection of intrusion detection and prevention systems known as Einstein, according to a fact sheet.

It also includes a $47 million boost over the administration’s request for Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation, or CDM, a suite of vetted cybersecurity tools and services that Homeland Security offers across the government.

The bill includes $813 million for Homeland Security’s Science and Technology Directorate, which is $230 million over the administration’s request.

The science and technology division is responsible for most of the department’s cybersecurity research and development, though the Trump administration has tried to shift that responsibility to Homeland Security’s main operations wing, the National Protection and Programs Directorate.

The appropriations bill also includes a $6 million funding boost for the U.S. Secret Service to train state and local officials in computer forensics and cyber investigations.

The House has not yet released its version of the fiscal 2019 Homeland Security funding bill.