VA details fiscal 2013 spending plans

Spending by the Veteran Affairs Office of Information Security will see a boost in fiscal 2013. Where will expenditures go up?

The Veteran Affairs’ Office of Information Security will see a boost in its spending as it focuses on cybersecurity, network security and privacy.

The office plans to spend $123.2 million in fiscal 2013, an increase from $109.5 million in 2012 and $121.4 million in 2011.

The office gave a breakdown of its spending initiatives during a Deltek industry forum this week.

Most spending goes toward cybersecurity and the VA’s network security operation center. In fiscal 2013, cybersecurity initiatives will receive $30 million, as opposed to $35.4 million in fiscal 2012 and $24.3 million in fiscal 2011. The network security operation center will receive $70.5 million in fiscal 2013. It received $61.1 million in fiscal 2012 and $79.9 million the previous year.

Field Security Service received around $3.5 million in fiscal 2011, but essentially none in fiscal 2012; in fiscal 2013, however, the information security office will spend $2.6 million toward the initiative.

Spending on risk management and incident response will rise in fiscal 2013 with plans to spend $10.9 million, as opposed to fiscal 2012’s $3.3 million and fiscal 2011’s $5.4 million

Privacy has gradually been seeing more money each year. The Office of Information Security plans $4.7 million on privacy initiatives in fiscal 2013, compared to $3.6 million in 2012 and $2.3 million in 2011.

Business continuity has dropped from the past two fiscal years, with $4 million slated in 2013 as opposed to the $6 million in both fiscal 2011 and 2012.

The Office of Information Security also offered a breakdown of spending by services, hardware, software and hybrid.

Fiscal 2013 spending:
Services: $83 million
Hardware: $11.9 million
Software: $12.2 million
Hybrid: $15.9 million
Total: $123.2 million

Fiscal 2012 spending:
Services: $75.9 million
Hardware: $13.3 million
Software: $14.2 million
Hybrid: $7.4 million
Total: $109.5 million

Fiscal 2011 spending:
Services: $98.4 million
Hardware: $1.3 million
Software: $14.2 million
Hybrid: $7.4 million
Total: $121.4 million