Microsoft’s Azure Government cloud platform has been awarded a further four industry certifications, meaning that Microsoft now holds the largest number of industry, government and international certifications of any commercial cloud provider.

Here’s an overview of what these latest accreditations are and what they mean for government customers.

FedRAMP Moderate Provisional Authority to Operate (P-ATO)

Azure Government – including identity services (Azure Active Directory and multi-factor authentication) – is now certified for US government customers. Receiving the P-ATO for Azure Government provides independent attestation that the cloud platform meets the rigorous standards and security requirements laid out in NIST 800-53.

DISA Level 2 Provisional Authorization (PA)

As part of Microsoft’s FedRAMP authorisation, Azure Government has also been granted a PA for DISA Level 2 by the FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board. Department of Defence customers can place non-sensitive information and defense applications into Azure Government that require DISA Level 2.

HIPAA Business Associate Agreement (BAA)

Microsoft now contractually commits to meeting HIPAA requirements in Azure Government by providing a BAA addendum to enterprise agreements. US government customers and partners can have confidence that PHI will be protected with best-in-class security and privacy capabilities and processes.

Support for federal tax workloads under IRS Publication 1075

Many customers need the ability to process federal tax information. Azure Government provides the features, processes and transparency that enables customers to achieve compliance with IRS 1075. Customers can review Azure Government’s IRS 1075 Safeguard Security Report, as well as a controls matrix that defines distributed accountabilities for certifying their solutions on Azure Government.

“All of these achievements apply to Azure Government customers immediately, enabling trusted cloud scenarios across a broad range of services,” said Tom Keane, partner director of Program Management, Microsoft Azure. “Azure Government delivers on the criteria necessary for government agencies and their partners to use cloud services, adding assurance that data will remain in US facilities, data centre personnel have been screened according to strict guidelines, and continuous monitoring ensures effective incident detection and response.”

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