Northrop Grumman Awarded $189M Contract for Cybersecurity from DISA

Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a cybersecurity task order by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to strengthen cybersecurity protections across all Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community networks by implementing the Host Based Security System (HBSS) as part of the DoD Information Assurance and Computer Network Defense contract. The task order was competitively awarded under the Encore 2 contract vehicle and is valued at $189 million over a three-year base period with two one-year options. As prime integrator, Northrop Grumman will provide software license maintenance support, training, help desk and architectural infrastructure support personnel. "Cybersecurity is one of Northrop Grumman's four core businesses due to its vital role in our nation's defense," said Karen Williams, vice president of Northrop Grumman's Defense Technologies Division. "The HBSS award reinforces Northrop Grumman's position as a top provider of defense-in-depth cybersecurity solutions across the DoD and intelligence domains." HBSS is the DoD's commercial-off-the-shelf suite of automated and standardized software used to provide enhanced host based security -- security on desktops and laptops versus at the boundary such as routers and switches -- against both inside and external threats. In October 2007, DoD mandated HBSS for eventual installation on all unclassified and classified networks. Full implementation of HBSS is critical to defending government networks from an increasing number of sophisticated cyber-attacks. HBSS provides system administrators significant improvements in situational awareness and drastically reduces or eliminates the effectiveness of cyber-attacks, ensuring vital network capabilities are available to warfighters.