DOD gets millions for cyber capabilities under GOP reconciliation package

The Republican domestic policy law, signed over the weekend, includes significant boosts for U.S. military cyber spending, including new investments in cyberdefense, offensive operations and workforce development.

The law establishes a $250 million investment for AI-related efforts at Cyber Command. Meanwhile, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command would get $1 million devoted to offensive cyber capabilities. INDOPACOM’s territory includes China, Russia and North Korea, which make up most of the top nation-state cyberspace adversaries targeting U.S. and Western interests.

Around $20 million is allotted to the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, while a separate $90 million tranche includes cybersecurity support “for non-traditional contractors.”

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard, a military service primarily managed by the Department of Homeland Security, would get $2.2 billion for cyber asset upkeep. It would also get $170 million for maritime domain awareness assets — the radars, drones, patrol boats and sensors that help the Coast Guard see what’s happening in U.S. waters — that include tools related to cyberspace.

Separately, the spending package also includes a measure to help civilian members of the U.S. intelligence community cover relocation costs via a tax mechanism already made available to military servicemembers.

Outside the DOD, various health associations and groups have warned that vast cuts to Medicaid in the bill would slow rural healthcare providers from investing in much-needed funds to stop hackers from breaching their systems.

“Reductions in Medicaid funding of this magnitude would likely accelerate rural hospital closures and reduce access to care for rural residents, exacerbating economic hardship in communities where hospitals are major employers,” according to a recent National Rural Health Association blog post.

The U.S. has made efforts to shore up hospital cyberdefenses through voluntary investments made available under the previous administration. Healthcare infrastructure is a treasure trove for cyber thieves because it often contains digital repositories of sensitive patient information that, if pilfered, can be sold to other criminal operatives for use in extortion or fraud schemes.