Today, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ -0.34%) announced it has received a cybersecurity contract awarded by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to assist 33 different governmental agencies in their efforts to prevent network, system, and software vulnerabilities.
The contract is valued at up to $32.4 million, which, according to HP, makes it the biggest security assurance tools software contract awarded as a part of the DHS Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA), which was first announced in August 2013.
"In today's technology-based society, there is nothing more important than protecting our nation's cyberspace so citizens will have continuous and secure access to services," said Al Kinney, vice president, Cybersecurity Solutions Group, U.S. Public Sector, HP Enterprise Services, of the announcement.
As a part of the contract announced today, HP will provide licensing to the agencies for two of its enterprise security solutions products. HP Web Inspect is an automated tool that allows agencies to analyze their existing web applications and other services for possible vulnerabilities by its mimicking of hacking attacks. In addition, HP will provide its Fortify Static Code Analyzer, which scans software code to find potential vulnerabilities in the code.
The CDMBPA includes 17 vendors and has a total maximum value of $6 billion if all four options are exercised by the government. The program was created to solidify the cybersecurity strength of the various federal .gov networks in a cost-effective way. The five-year program is intended to allow the government to "address the rising volume and complexity of cyber threats."
Kinney concluded by noting, "As one of the first companies to begin work under the CDM program, HP is well positioned to help agencies enhance their security arsenal by performing analysis, reporting and threat mitigation on their core software assets."
