The U.S. Air Force is learning a tough lesson when it comes to hardening its systems against cyberintrusions, primarily that the cybersecurity threat landscape changes faster than the military's budgeting process.
The Air Force's Operational Control Segment (OCX) program, which oversees GPS systems, being developed by Raytheon over the last six years has run far over budget as that company attempts to make it secure against cyberattacks, reported Defense News. Winston Beauchamp, deputy under secretary of the Air Force for space, said security requirements that were simple to handle eight years ago are now hundreds of times more complex.
Raytheon's attempt to keep its software up to date has resulted in a 20 percent cost overrun for the project, a threshold that when crossed requires the Department of Defense to report to Congress on the issue. The Air Force now has to decide whether or not to sustain or cancel OCX.
