March 16, 2015
U.S. Cyber Command spending will rocket 92 percent this year to get mission troops up and rolling in 2016, according to Defense Department budget figures. Last year, the force was funded at $190 million, while 2015 figures project a $364 million purse.
Money for the command — tasked with orchestrating network defense maneuvers and offensive cyberattacks — eventually will stabilize over the next five years, totaling out at $1 billion.
About $500 million in 2016 would go toward compensating computer security whizzes departmentwide, according to budget materials provided to Nextgov. Earlier this month, Defense received the green light to fast-track the hiring of 3,000 civilian cyber pros, in part, to staff the half-full Cyber Command.