The ink is barely dry on the president's 2010 budget released earlier this week, but the cry for more money is already being heard. DHS needs help--money and staff--to augment a planned increase in responsibility for governmentwide security, according to an article in nextgov.com.

A story in the Washington Post on Tuesday reported that DHS will be taking on a bigger role in securing civilian computer networks against cyberattacks. And administration officials confirmed that DHS will receive more money and personnel to support the increase in work. Apparently though, that won't be enough to support an enhanced role that is being envisioned for the agency created after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

DHS Secretary Janet Napolitano said the department "will become, in effect, the non-DoD locus for cybersecurity." And along with that comes added responsibilities and monetary needs to make it work.

"DHS is probably the best place to secure the dot-gov networks, but it needs resources and people to do the job," said James Lewis, director of the technology and public policy program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "Right now, they have about a third of what they need. If this is a serious effort, it has to be fully supported."

For more on DHS's role and budget worries:
- check out this nextgov.com article