WASHINGTION (Sputnik) — The US Department of Defense almost doubled its IT security budget to $6.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2014, following the revelations of National Security Agency (NSA) whistleblower Edward Snowden, according to a new report by the Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO).
“Estimated costs associated with Protection and Maintenance for Classified Information Systems was $7.57 billion, an increase of $3.17 billion, or 72 percent, from the estimate reported for Fiscal Year 2013,” the report said on Wednesday.
In 2013, Snowden revealed that the NSA was secretly gathering the phone and e-mail records of all Americans and could access them at any time.
The report noted that ISOO and the Defense Department “attribute the increase to many new initiatives following a number of serious security breaches.”
On October 7, 2011, Obama issued Executive Order 13587 — Structural Reforms to Improve the Security of Classified Networks, and the Responsible Sharing and Safeguarding of Classified Information — in order to prevent security leaks.
“(A)gencies are developing and implementing greater technical safeguards for national security systems, aiming to improve network security by reducing anonymity… restricting the removal of media, and, developing insider threat programs,” the ISOO report said.
However, ISOO also admitted that “such improvements are costly.”
The ISOOs annual report covers US government agencies’ security classification activities, shares cost estimates for these activities, and provides an update on the Controlled Unclassified Information program.
