RESTON, Va., March 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Civilian cyber security-related IT spending is anticipated to grow 27 percent over the next five years due to poor security assessment ratings and increased attention on homeland security, according to the latest INPUT/Output(R) report released today by INPUT, the quantifiable leader in government market intelligence. Although cyber security spending grew modestly prior to September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks changed the focus of IT spending from development and modernization to advanced infrastructure security, initially causing rapid growth in spending over the past three years.

"The effects of 9/11 have changed the way federal agencies approach cyber security," said Marcus Fedeli, manager of federal opportunity products at INPUT. "Continued fear over potential terrorist attacks has caused an almost desperate need for improvement of current standards and levels of security. New requirements will cause civilian IT security spending to grow steadily this year."

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) set forth cyber security standards in the Federal Security Management Act (FISMA) of 2002, encouraging federal agencies to further secure their IT systems. According to the recent FISMA Report Card released in February 2005, government agencies are still not operating in a secure environment and have earned a nearly failing overall rating of D+. Recent findings outlined the current limitations and shortcomings of current cyber security technologies, which include insecure VPN connections, faulty firewall protection and the need for customized solutions. These vulnerabilities open IT systems to potential fraud, sabotage, and destruction.

Planned IT security spending for civilian agencies for FY 2005 is roughly $1.6 billion, accounting for roughly 17 percent of the total civilian agencies' development/modernization/enhancement (DME) budget for the year. Top civilian agency spenders include the departments of Homeland Security, Health and Human Services, Energy, and Transportation.

"As demonstrated by the current security evaluation, there are still important advancements to be made in the area of cyber security, particularly within federal civilian agencies," added Fedeli. "We expect to see these agencies rely heavily on outside contractors to provide the products and services necessary to secure IT systems government-wide. The need to satisfy legislative mandates will create opportunities for technology vendors to work in the public sector."

INPUT's complete Cyber Security Market INPUT/Output(R) report is available to clients of INPUT's Information Services subscription program. For more information on the subscription program, visit http://info.input.com/ or call 703-707-3500.

About INPUT:

INPUT is the quantifiable leader in government market intelligence. Established in 1974 and based in Reston, Virginia, INPUT provides information services, industry analysis, consulting, software solutions, and events to help technology vendors win more government business, and to help government organizations further advance their IT initiatives. INPUT tracks more than a half trillion dollars in contract and grant opportunities within the US federal, state & local government markets, as well as tender opportunities throughout the European Union. INPUT has built a solid reputation for high quality and in-depth government industry insight and analysis with over 1,000 clients, including 80 of the top 100 IT contractors. Leading defense, hardware, software, telecommunications and IT services contractors, plus 4 of the top 5 8(a)s, rely on INPUT to help them win more than $45 billion in government business each year. For more information about INPUT, visit http://www.input.com/ or call 703-707-3500.

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CONTACT: Lara Sedar of INPUT, +1-703-707-3672, or [email protected].

CONTACT: Lara Sedar of INPUT, +1-703-707-3672, or [email protected]

Web site: http://www.input.com/