DISA's milCloud now offering classified services
The agency has configured its cloud computing service for the Secret IP Router Network.
The Defense Information Systems Agency’s cloud services portfolio can now handle classified information, as the agency has configured milCloud to handle the security requirements of the Secret IP Router Network, known as SIPRNet.
The move allows Defense Department agencies to order both classified and unclassified services through DISA’s Cloud Services Marketplace, which charges the same rates for services on SIPRNet and the Sensitive but Unclassified IP Router Network, or NIPRNet, DISA said in an announcement.
DOD is transitioning to cloud-based services in part to cut costs by consolidating data centers and tapping into virtual computing environments, but also to support the Joint Information Environment, a departmentwide infrastructure to support information sharing among all the military services and DOD component agencies.
DISA’s milCloud, a combination of government and commercial services offered as an Infrastructure as a Service, is one option for agencies, though DOD also is open to agencies making a business case for commercial cloud services. The primary requirements: those services have a Provisional Authorization from DISA and they cost less than milCloud.
Provisional Authorizations are based on meeting the requirements of the DOD Cloud Security Model, which adds stricter controls to the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program used by civilian agencies. A handful of services have qualified to provide cloud services under DOD Cloud security Model security impact levels 1 and 2, which cover public-facing and unclassified information. Amazon Web Services’ GovCloud, which is used by the intelligence community, in August gained authorization to operate in security impact levels 3 to 5 covering sensitive information.
Among milCloud’s services is a Virtual Data Center, which agencies can manage via a Web-based control panel. They also have the option to let DISA manage it. The milCloud Orchestrator can automate the management of the build, test and migration of configurations in a VDC, DISA said.
The SIPRNet milCloud is run from the Defense Enterprise Computing Centers in Montgomery, Ala., and Oklahoma City, which have already been providing the service to a dozen early adopters in DISA and the intelligence community, DISA said.