Government to unveil G-Cloud security accreditation details
Cloud providers and customers interested in G-Cloud programme invited to join the webinar
By Anh Nguyen | Computerworld UK | Published 12:24, 10 February 12
The government is running a live webinar next week to explain the security accreditation process to cloud providers and customers interested in taking part in the G-Cloud programme.
Questions can be submitted in advance, which the Cabinet Office will attempt to answer during the #AccreditCamp webinar.
The government said it will be contacting suppliers with the latest version of the G-Cloud Information Assurance (IA) guidelanes, which will provide a detailed description of the security accreditation process.
In addition, they should refer to the associated PSN Risk Management & Accreditation Reference Document (RMARD).
Google recently revealed that it was looking to gain higher security accreditations that would enable wider use of its cloud-based Google Apps by the UK government.
The government applies a Business Impact Level (IL) classification to ICT suppliers to indicate the security level of their services. IL0 (protected) is the lowest level of security, while IL6 (top secret) is the highest. IL2 is often the minimum requirement for government services, for example, it is the minimum requirement for providers biddings for network contracts.
The Cabinet Office's Government Digital Service currently only uses Google Apps and Google Docs at IL0, which it said is relevant to the majority of its work.
#AccreditCamp will take place at 11am on Monday 13 February. Questions can be emailed to enquiries@gcloud.cabinet-office.gov.uk or via Twitter @g_cloud_uk.
