Auditors: Pentagon Cyber Budget Has Fuzzy Numbers

Federal auditors have told Pentagon officials to define "cybersecurity" so the military services adopt the same terminology, and by extension, calculate their cyber spending plans in comparable ways.

With a clear definition, the department could avoid having to redo the math on its cyber budget, something it was forced to do twice this year. The order follows the disclosure of fuzzy math in the Defense Department's cyber budget. After Nextgov questioned why the Air Force's $4.6 billion 2012 budget request for cybersecurity was $2.3 billion more than Defense's servicewide spending proposal, Pentagon officials upped their total figure from $2.3 billion to $3.2 billion. Eventually, a Pentagon spokesperson explained that the service's estimate differed dramatically because the Air Force included "things" that are not typically considered information assurance or cybersecurity.