Survey: Federal Managers Support CDM More Than Implementers

Government managers are far more bullish about the Homeland Security Department’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation, or CDM, cybersecurity program than federal workers in the trenches implementing the program, according to an industry survey released Tuesday.

Nearly 90 percent of federal managers consider the current state of CDM to be very or somewhat effective compared with just over 30 percent of implementers, according to the survey by the cybersecurity firm Forcepoint, which is partly owned by defense contractor Raytheon.

The report is based on a survey of 200 civilian government workers who are involved with information security at their agencies. About half of respondents said they knew “quite a bit” about CDM, while the other half knew “a little about” the multibillion-dollar program through which Homeland Security provides pre-vetted suites of cybersecurity tools to agencies.

Forcepoint offers products that are included on authorized lists for CDM purchases.

When asked about CDM after all phases are rolled out, managers remained more positive than implementers with 81 percent of managers saying it would be very or somewhat effective compared with 54 percent of implementers.

Homeland Security is in the process of rejiggering CDM by re-awarding all four phases of the mammoth project to prime contractors who will manage cyber services for a handful of agencies for six years.

Under the new system, those awards are coming via task orders under the General Services Administration’s Alliant contract, a governmentwide contract vehicle that covers a wide range of technology goods and services. When Alliant phases out, task orders will move under the Alliant II vehicle.

Previously, the department awarded CDM contracts using a standalone $6 billion blanket purchase agreement.

Portions of the rejiggered CDM have been awarded to Booz Allen Hamilton, CACI, CGI Federal and ManTech.