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In August 2013, the General Services Administration announced a contract vehicle for 17 firms to help agencies deploy technology under the Department of Homeland Security’s Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) program. SecurityWeek reported a potential ceiling of up to $6 billion over five years—not a $6 billion payment or confirmed government spending.
What the 2013 DHS cybersecurity contract was
The award let federal agencies partner with DHS to deploy CDM technology intended to improve the security and resilience of government networks. SecurityWeek reported the award on August 14, 2013; it is a historical procurement story, not a newly announced contract. SecurityWeek’s 2013 report
The program aimed to give agencies a continuous view of network risks so IT managers could identify and prioritize issues. It combined monitoring, diagnosis, mitigation, dashboards and managed services rather than describing a single security product. A DHS statement quoted in the report said: “The CDM Program brings an enterprise approach to continuous diagnostics, and allows consistent application of best practices.”
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Why the headline says “$6 billion”
SecurityWeek described the contract’s potential value as up to $6 billion across a five-year term: one base year followed by four one-year options. That is an estimated ceiling, not evidence that the government obligated or spent the full amount. The report does not establish whether all options were exercised or the total ultimately paid.
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Which 17 firms were selected?
SecurityWeek listed these contract participants in 2013. The names below preserve the spellings used in that report; corporate identities and names may have changed since then.
- Booz Allen Hamilton
- CGI Federal, Inc.
- Computer Sciences Corporation
- Digital Management, Inc.
- Dynamics Research Corporation
- General Dynamics Information Technology
- Hewlett Packard Enterprise Services
- IBM
- Knowledge Consulting Group
- Kratos Technology and Training Solutions
- Lockheed Martin
- ManTech International
- Northrop Grumman
- SAIC
- SRA International
- Technica Corporation
How CDM was intended to work
Monitoring, diagnosis and mitigation
CDM was described as a collection of continuous-monitoring sensors, diagnosis and mitigation tools, dashboards, and Continuous Monitoring as a Service. Together, these capabilities were intended to help agencies detect and address weaknesses in their networks.
Agency dashboards and federal-level summaries
Agency dashboards were to produce customized reports that helped IT managers find and prioritize critical cyber risks. Summary information would then feed a federal dashboard managed by DHS’s National Cybersecurity Communications and Integration Center, supporting risk assessment across agencies. The agency view and the DHS-level summary served different purposes: local prioritization versus a broader cross-agency picture.
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Vendor-specific example in the 2013 report
SecurityWeek reported that IBM offered consulting and software in the program context, including IBM Security Endpoint Manager, IBM Security AppScan and IBM Security QRadar. This records what the article said in 2013; it is not a statement about current product availability, suitability or recommendation.
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Potential benefit and the concerns raised
Mike Lloyd, then CTO at RedSeal Networks, saw the potential for stronger leadership-level visibility, saying the program could give DHS “a level of situational awareness and risk management that has not been possible in the past.” He also framed the operational challenge as finding and prioritizing weaknesses in context: “Defenders need the same capability – the ability to find, understand, and prioritize all these weaknesses in full context of the mission of the organization.”
Robert Hansen, then director of product management and technical evangelist at WhiteHat Security, cautioned that data-sharing needed careful control: “The government will need to be choosy about whom it decides to share data with.” The concern matters because the program’s model included sharing summarized information across agencies; broader visibility could help identify systemic risk, while access and handling decisions remained important.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the 2013 report does not establish
- The actual total spent or obligated under the contract.
- Whether the four optional years were exercised.
- The contract’s present-day status or the current status of the named companies and products.
- Measured security outcomes attributable to the award.
SecurityWeek’s article is the basis for the reported terms, participant list, program description and attributed comments; it does not independently establish those unresolved details.
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