The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency was formally designated as a storefront for cybersecurity, the Office of Management and Budget announced April 27, allowing it to offer cyber services to other federal agencies.
CISA, a component inside the Department of Homeland Security charged with securing critical infrastructure and federal networks, was designated as the federal government’s first “Quality Service Management Office." Under that label, the agency will provide cybersecurity services for Security Operations Center standardization, vulnerability management standardization and DNS resolver services.
CISA is the first office to earn the designation since OMB announced it just over one year ago. Agencies that are designated as an office serve as a government “storefront” that offer technological and services solutions in their mission area to other agencies.
“This an important step in the path to modernization of the federal government,” said Suzette Kent, federal chief information officer. “By designating CISA as QSMO for cyber services, the federal government will be able to leverage their expertise, contracts and solutions to offer a robust marketplace of cybersecurity capabilities that will benefit all agencies."
CISA runs several federal cybersecurity programs, such as the Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation program and the National Cybersecurity Protection System.
“CISA’s formal designation as the Cybersecurity Quality Service Management Office reinforces our core mission to safeguard the cybersecurity of the federal civilian enterprise," said Bryan S. Ware, assistant director for cybersecurity at CISA. “We plan to leverage successes and lessons learned from programs like Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) and the National Cybersecurity Protection System (NCPS) to deliver high-quality, cost-effective shared services to federal agencies.”
CISA is also working toward becoming a storefront office in several other cybersecurity fields, including incident response, threat intelligence and intrusion detection and prevention. Several other agencies are working toward formal designations. The Department of the Treasury is pre-designated in core financial management, the General Services Administration is pre-designated for civilian HR transaction services, and the Department of Health and Human Services is pre-designated in grants management.
"In partnership with OMB and our partner QSMOs, we stand ready to create efficiencies in government and optimize the federal workforce by shifting resources to higher value work and reducing duplication across agencies,” Ware said.
Andrew Eversden covers all things defense technology for C4ISRNET. He previously reported on federal IT and cybersecurity for Federal Times and Fifth Domain, and worked as a congressional reporting fellow for the Texas Tribune. He was also a Washington intern for the Durango Herald. Andrew is a graduate of American University.
