DHS awards $1 billion contract to thwart hackers

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has awarded defense contractor Raytheon a five-year contract to secure the government’s networks that could be worth $1 billion.

The DHS contract for Raytheon puts the major defense company in charge of the agency’s Network Security Deployment (NSD) division.

{mosads}The NSD oversees the National Cybersecurity Protection System, which provides the infrastructure to protect federal agency networks.

The government is scrambling to bolster its cybersecurity at more than 100 federal civilian agencies. Government audits have shown many government networks contain glaring security flaws that make it easy for hackers and foreign spies to crack computer systems.

In the last year, hackers have exploited these defects to access the networks at agencies such as the State Department, White House, United States Postal Service, Internal Revenue Service and Office of Personnel Management (OPM).

The OPM breach is thought to be the worst in government history, with suspected Chinese hackers stealing over 20 million federal workers’ sensitive data.

The DHS contract will last for at least five years, with the possibility that some orders could stretch to seven years.

Raytheon said it has invested $3.5 billion in cybersecurity in recent years to boost its capabilities.