General Dynamics picked for DHS cybersecurity work

General Dynamics Corp. has won a $48.2 million from the Homeland Security Department's U.S. Computer Emergency Readiness Team to provide support and analysis services.

Under the contract, General Dynamics will provide U.S.-CERT with situational awareness support, analysis and technical and infrastructure support.

U.S.-CERT awarded the one-year task order earlier this month under the agencywide Enterprise Acquisition Gateway for Leading Edge Solutions multiple-award contract. The award also includes four one-year options.

The contract becomes yet another piece of the Bush administration's push to improve cybersecurity. Along with this contract, the Office of Management and Budget mandated that agencies use U.S.-CERT's Einstein Internet gateway monitoring system and limit the number of Internet connections to 50 governmentwide. The White House also requested to move $115 million in DHS to U.S.-CERT for Einstein implementation and named a new cybersecurity director.

General Dynamics of Falls Church, Va., ranks No. 7 on Washington Technology's 2007 Top 100 list of the largest federal government prime contractors.

Jason Miller writes for Government Computer News and Federal Computer Week, 1105 Government Information Group publications.