Federal Manager's Daily Report

The Department of Homeland Security has announced it has

awarded a contract to begin implementing its Homeland Secure

Data Network, intended as a modern IT infrastructure to

securely communicate classified information.


It said Northrop Grumman, selected by the General Services

Administration for the approximately $350 million contract,

would design, implement and operate the “private, certified,

and accredited network.”


“The HSDN lays the foundation to consolidate five legacy

wide-area networks down to one network for both classified

and unclassified information, leading to one infrastructure

–the first phase of which will be completed by the end

of this year,” said Secretary Tom Ridge.


DHS says the HSDN will enable it interact with other

classified networks while eliminating its dependence external

ones.