As the new federal fiscal year begins, cybersecurity analysts and industry leaders predict that electronic warfare and managed services will top the U.S. government\u2019s priority list to improve cybersecurity during the next fiscal cycle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lockheed Martin, one of the five major cybersecurity contractors for the federal government, told Fifth Domain that they are focusing on signals intelligence and electronic warfare in the new year, which began Oct. 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Cybersecurity and electronic warfare \u201ccan disrupt, deny, degrade, deceive and destroy adversaries\u2019 electronic systems,\u201d Deon Viergutz, vice president of Lockheed Martin\u2019s cyber division told Fifth Domain in an email. \u201cThe ability to dominate the electromagnetic spectrum allows militaries to not only establish control, but also keep soldiers out of harm\u2019s way by providing offensive and defensive techniques from remote locations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Russia\u2019s use of electronic warfare during its 2015 invasion of Ukraine exposed how the Department of Defense needs to boost its own digital combat tools, Brad Curran, an analyst at Front & Sullivan previously told Fifth Domain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The White House\u2019s new cybersecurity strategy states that the federal government will boost efforts to lawfully gather evidence of criminal activity and disrupt criminal networks through new legislation. It could translate into a greater need for tools that can manage large amounts of data, such as artificial intelligence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But along with the expected increase in electronic warfare, analysts and firms are predicting a rise in managed and cloud based services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Raytheon, another of the five major cybersecurity U.S. government contractors, said they expected the federal government to need more managed security operations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cConcepts like security operations center-as-a-service, and others are gaining momentum due to the desire for scalability. Federal agencies will continue to look to contracted service providers for expertise and support,\u201d John DeSimone, a vice president for cybersecurity and special missions at Raytheon told Fifth Domain in an email.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Curran said he expects the federal government to save money by using more cloud-based services, such as Amazon Web Services and Microsoft\u2019s Azure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Trump administration has seen an increased in shared services, said Suzanne Spaulding, a former undersecretary at the Department of Homeland Security who now works at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhich services they will ultimately centralize is hard to see,\u201d Spaulding said. She added the decision-space is \u201cis tricky because at the end of the day, cabinet secretaries also need to be accountable for their own cybersecurity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n