- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

US Doubled IT Security Budget After Snowden Revealed Surveillance Program

© REUTERS / Glenn Greenwald/Laura Poitras/Courtesy of the GuardianDocuments leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden reveal that the NSA has technology to convert recorded conversations to text that can be searched for terms like "detonator", "Baghdad", or "Musharaf."
Documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden reveal that the NSA has technology to convert recorded conversations to text that can be searched for terms like detonator,  Baghdad, or Musharaf. - Sputnik International
Subscribe
According to a new report by the Information Security Oversight Office the US Department of Defense almost doubled its IT security budget to $6.6 billion in Fiscal Year 2014, following the revelations of Edward Snowden.

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.

Demonstrators march through Washington - Sputnik International
Two Years on From Edward Snowden Claims: Spy Agencies Reined-In
ISOO noted that the main driver of the change in the budget was a Department of Defense report whose estimate increased by a net $3.2 billion.

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.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала