Clinton calls for $1.4 billion to secure key systems

The president's fiscal 2000 budget request will include $1.4 billion for protection of the banking, electrical and other critical systems and for computer security, a 40 percent increase in the two budget years since the president created the Critical Infrastructure Protection Commission.

This funding, which the president announced today, will include $500 million for a new critical infrastructure applied research initiative, a portion of which will be spent on new initiatives to safeguard computer networks.

The budget funds also will be used to create computer intrusion networks for civilian federal agencies. These systems will ensure that when one computer system is attacked, another in the network will be instantly notified, making it easier to head off the intruder and limit damage ([FCW, Nov. 2, 1998]. At present, most agencies have no way of knowing when their systems are being attacked.

The president's budget also will call for the creation of Information Sharing and Analysis centers, in which the federal government will provide private industry with information about threats to industry's computer systems without compromising corporations' privacy, civil liberties or proprietary data.

Finally, the proposal will call for a new government "cybercorps," composed of newly recruited experts, to respond to attacks on federal agency computer networks.