CSC Picked for Pentagon's Cybercrime Efforts

Computer Sciences Corp., El Segundo, Calif., has been tapped by the Defense Department to provide computer investigation training for federal law enforcement officials.

The procurement was under development before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, but its value more than doubled from about $40 million to $86.8 million as Defense Department officials restructured the work to allow nondefense agencies to send more investigators for training, said Robert Fout, senior manager for CSC's Defense Computer Investigations Training Program team.

"The scope ballooned as a result of Sept. 11," Fout said.

The task order was awarded Nov. 29 under the General Services Administration's Millennia contract and is for eight years if all options are exercised, GSA said. CSC has been providing forensic and computer investigation training to the Defense Department since September 1998.

Training covers issues such as computer search and seizure, computer intrusions and forensic computer media analysis.

The training is provided to the investigative arms of the Air Force, Army and Navy as well as the Defense Criminal Investigative Service and the 902nd Military Intelligence Group, Fout said.

With the higher contract ceiling on the task order, more civilian agencies are expected to take courses at the training center in Linthicum, Md., he said. State and local law enforcement agencies also will be able to use the center.

"This really is a national asset," he said of the center.

CSC also is planning to develop online and distance learning capabilities for students to keep up with changes in technology after they have finished their courses and left the center, Fout said.

While CSC does not have teammates, the company works with Veridian Corp. of Arlington, Va., on computer forensic issues, he said. CSC is a subcontractor to Veridian for the work it does at the Defense Computer Forensics Laboratory.

"This is a growing area; it is not something that is going to go away," Fout said.

At the Defense Computer Investigations Training Program center, CSC will have about 35 instructors and support personnel.

The instructors have to combine the ability to teach with a background in law enforcement and technical proficiency.

"They are a very rare breed," Fout said.