House panel approves $52B for cybersecurity

The House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday approved legislation that would provide $52 billion to the Pentagon’s cybersecurity operations.

The measure, reported out last week by the Intelligence, Emerging Threats and Capabilities Subcommittee, is the first step in what will likley be a marathon session to mark up the 2015 National Defense Authorization Act.

The legislation, which covers the Pentagon’s initiatives on counterterrorism, counterproliferation, defense intelligence, irregular warfare, and cyber operations, fully funds the department’s roughly $52 billion request for information technology efforts, including $5.1 billion for U.S. Cyber Command.

The bill requires the Government and Accountability office to report on efforts to protect information technology systems from insider threats and directs Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to establish an “executive agent” to coordinate and oversee cyber training and test ranges.