Feds to Triple Information Security Spending

Federal government spending on information security systems and services will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 25 percent from $1.3 billion in fiscal year 2001 to more than $4.1 billion in FY 2006, according to a report released today by INPUT, a sales and marketing resource for technology vendors.

The report says spending on information security systems and services will be highest among the agencies of the Department of Defense, exceeding $2.1 billion by FY 2006 due to efforts to secure and enhance the military command and control infrastructure.

“The terrorist attacks on September 11th have added a sense of urgency to an already serious situation in which many agencies were receiving unsatisfactory scores in federal security reviews,” said Payton Smith, manager of public sector market analysis services at the Chantilly, Va.-based INPUT. “Federal agencies must respond to administrative pressure tying program funding to demonstrated security performance.”

According to the report, growth in federal spending for information security will be most significant in fiscal years 2002 and 2003.

“As federal agencies satisfy their immediate security requirements, INPUT expects that security spending will revert to a growth rate that is more in line with overall federal spending for information technology,” said Smith.

INPUT offers an array of standardized and customized content, research, and web-based software services to help clients secure new business, address new markets and manage resources.