Northrop Grumman [NOC] has been awarded a cybersecurity task order by the Defense Information Services Agency (DISA) to implement the Host Based Security System (HBSS), according to a company statement.
The $189 million deal, awarded under the Encore 2 contract vehicle, will enable prime contractor Northrop Grumman and primary subcontractor McAfee, which is owned by Intel Corp. [INTC], to strengthen cybersecurity protections across all Defense Department and intelligence community networks, according to a statement. The contract has a three-year base period with two one-year options.
CDW, owned by Providence Equity, is also a teammate on the contract.
Doyle Choi, vice president of business development for defense enterprise solutions at Northrop Grumman, said in a phone interview yesterday with Defense Daily the contract was awarded in December and a period of performance began on Jan. 1.
Tom Conway, director of federal business development at McAfee, also told Defense Daily in a phone interview yesterday the focus of the HBSS is responding in a consistent manner.
“What it can also do is provide a common framework to protect that same enterprise,” Conway said. “So what we see is that these attacks, or probes, occur throughout the military networks. So having common situational awareness, where it’s being probed and how it’s being probed, gives it the ability to respond in a uniform manner with proven countermeasures.”
HBSS is DoD’s commercial off-the-shelf suite of automated and standardized software used to provide enhanced host-based security–security on desktops and laptops–instead of at routers and switches, according to a statement. HBSS also protects against internal and external threats.
Choi said host-based security is what HBSS is all about.
“The customer is very much interested in understanding what is happening on their network and what is happening with their systems and HBSS is a capability that allows them to better understand that environment and what is going on.”
Under the terms of the contract, Northrop Grumman will provide support in architecting, engineering, maintaining, deploying and implementing the HBSS solution, according to a statement. McAfee provides the core technology that enables the host-based security, according to Choi.
“Northrop brings a much valuable contribution [in] domain expertise,” Conway said. “They really understand how DoD operates, what the mission needs are, how to fulfill the mission needs while McAfee is more of a commercial software technology developer and marketer.”
Initial work will be performed at Ft. Meade, Md., home of the National Security Agency, according to the statement. Northrop Grumman has been working on the development of HBSS since 2008 and recently deployed HBSS 3.0 across 263 active duty Air Force bases and Air National Guard sites around the world, according to the statement.