TMF Board of Directors announces $94.8 million for 3 cybersecurity projects

Written by Dave Nyczepir
June 21, 2022 | FEDSCOOP

The Technology Modernization Fund Board will invest a total of $94.8 million in three projects to enhance cybersecurity for mission-critical services at separate agencies.

USDANet modernization at the US Department of Agriculture will receive $64 million, a Federal Trade Commission security operations center $3.9 million, and the Department of Homeland Security will receive 26.9 million dollars to upgrade the Homeland Security Information Network.

The Technology Modernization Fund (TMF)’s latest investment round supports projects focused on improving network infrastructure through the adoption of zero-trust security. Tuesday’s announcement comes five days after the Office of Management and Budget and the General Services Administration designated TMF $100 million for customer experience projects at suppliers. High-impact service, evidence of the TMF Board’s broad approach to addressing common challenges across government.

“This administration is well on its way to investing heavily in defense operations and moving away from a defense based on a fault belt,” said Clare Martorana, federal information director and TMF board chair. transition to a ‘distrust’ approach. in the notice. “These investments will implement strong multi-factor authentication, encrypt government data, rapidly detect and stop adversary activity, and continuously identify and remediate security vulnerabilities.” secret”.

USDA will use its $64 million to further consolidate 17 legacy networks into a single, secure network that supports every program and service office — resulting in an estimated $734 million in savings.

Both Food Safety and Inspection services and Food and Nutrition benefit from the additional speed and security of USDANet.

“The USDANet Modernization Project allows USDA to continue and build on its customer-centric IT modernization efforts to deliver better performance for better value,” said CIO Gary Washington. “It will also increase USDANet’s credibility and act as a facilitator to protect and operate the U.S. agricultural supply chain.”

The FTC hopes that establishing a security operations center as a service will better protect sensitive data against more advanced threats and improve response times to cyberattacks. The TMF Board of Directors hopes the project will serve as a blueprint for other agencies to establish SOCs.

DHS will use its $26.9 million to rebuild HSIN as a cloud computing platform, to improve the security of information sharing among first responders, enforcement legislation, the private sector and government partners. HSIN will provide more real-time information and access to resources to respond more quickly to crises such as natural disasters.

The investments mark USDA’s fifth TMF project, DHS’s second and the FTC’s first. All three agencies plan to repay TMF debt by the end of fiscal year 2028.

To date, the TMF Board of Directors has invested more than half a billion dollars in projects, 26 of which are ongoing.

“TMF is once again investing in smart technology that will improve efficiency, enhance cybersecurity, and deliver better efficiency for taxpayers,” GSA Administrator Robin Carnahan said in a statement. “TMF is showing that governments can harness technology to make a positive impact in people’s lives, from supporting systems that help those with food insecurity to ensuring that first responders can quickly share information.”