Unisys plants IT security upgrades in USDA agencies

Unisys Corp. will boost IT security for the Agriculture Department under a five-year task order that could be worth as much as $18 million.

Unisys will design and install an integrated suite of security software tools as well as the underlying infrastructure supporting those tools, which will give USDA the ability to monitor and secure the infrastructure and data for the department’s 29 component agencies, according to a company statement.

Working with leading security tool vendors, Unisys will design, install, integrate and deploy solutions for intrusion detection, data loss prevention, network traffic analysis, malware detection, Secure Sockets Layer decryption, packet analysis and other functions.

The project will result in a virtual Agriculture Security Operations Center to give USDA real-time insight into the daily activities of tracking, monitoring, reporting and responding to detected security incidents.

The task order is the first awarded to Unisys under the Office of the Chief Information Officer Security Analysis and Support Services contract, awarded last year.

Unisys, of Blue Bell, Pa., ranks No. 38 on Washington Technology’s 2010 Top 100 list of the largest federal government contractors.