CGI awarded $530M DHS CDM contract to strengthen cybersecurity of federal agencies

Fairfax, VA-based CGI recently announced that it has been awarded a six-year, US$530 million task order contract to continually enhance the cybersecurity posture and risk awareness of federal government agencies participating in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Continuous Diagnostics and Mitigation (CDM) Dynamic and Evolving Federal Enterprise Network Defense – Group C (DEFEND C). The contract was awarded via the U.S. General Services Administration’s Alliant government-wide acquisition contract through an acquisition conducted by GSA FEDSIM.

CGI will help strengthen participating agencies’ overall cybersecurity posture by providing new cybersecurity capabilities and cost-effective solutions via standardized security stacks. The company will also improve visibility and insight into the cyber risks present at agencies through a centralized view of security risk across the government infrastructure. Once completed, the federal government will have a significantly improved view of the overall risk posture posed by the Group C agencies’ digital resources.

“As a program, DHS’ CDM effort has to be one of the largest cross-agency efforts to secure the Federal Government’s IT infrastructure,” said Stephanie Mango, CGI senior vice president. “CDM epitomizes the best of the shared services model, and we are delighted by the confidence that GSA, DHS and the Group C Agencies have entrusted to CGI to be part of this historic effort.”

The contract furthers the Credential Management (CREDMGMT) work CGI has already provided, on behalf of CDM Phase 2, to collect data on every user connecting to the network for 26 agencies, providing many agencies the first holistic view of their entire user population. Phase 2 is ongoing and scheduled for completion later this calendar year.

The CDM program offers a dynamic approach to fortifying the cybersecurity of government networks and systems. The program provides DHS—along with other federal agencies—with the capabilities and tools to identify cybersecurity risks on an ongoing basis, prioritize these risks based on potential impacts and then enable personnel to mitigate the most significant problems first. Congress established the CDM program to provide adequate, risk-based and cost-effective cybersecurity and more efficiently allocate cybersecurity resources.

Source: CGI Federal