President Obama's budget proposal for the 2016 fiscal year includes a projected 10 percent increase in cybersecurity spend, reports Reuters.
The total for 2016, if approved by congress, will be $14 billion that will be spent across US government to better protect private and federal networks from cyberthreats.
Overall, IT spending will reach $86 billion - an increase of around 2%, Computer World explains.
According to CNET, the goals for improving cybersecurity include "increasing information sharing between private companies and the government, enhancing counterintelligence capabilities and expanding cyber-education in the federal government."
President Obama said of the proposed budget: "This budget provides the resources we need to defend the nation against cyberattacks. No foreign nation, no hacker, should be able to shut down our networks, steal our trade secrets, or invade the privacy of American families."
"In addition to increasing funding to protect our nation against cyberattacks, I continue to urge the Congress to finally pass the legislation we need to meet this evolving threat," he added.
The focus on cybersecurity from the president is no big surprise, given how much it has featured in his speeches since the hacking of Sony Pictures at the end of last year. Obama called for longer sentences for hacking, protections for firms sharing cyberthreat data, and 30 day data breach notifications, at the turn of the year.
"We want cybercriminals to feel the full force of American justice, because they are doing as much damage — if not more, these days — as folks who are involved in more conventional crime," Obama said last month.
