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Formerly Windows Azure, Microsoft Azure provides a range of cloud computing services, including networking, analytics, and data storage. Besides, Microsoft allows users to pick and choose their preferred services, whether scaling new applications or utilizing existing programs to facilitate various operations. As a public cloud, Azure remains among the widely used cloud solutions offering different cloud packages; Azure Commercial, Azure Government, Azure Government Secret, and now Azure Government Top Secret.
Microsoft has announced Azure Government Top Secret as the newest cloud service designed to handle classified data. The tech giant stated that the service would be generally available to advance U.S. national security missions, extended to the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. But what exactly is Microsoft’s Azure Government Top Secret? Read on to find out.
In a nutshell, Azure Government Top Secret is Microsoft’s cloud-based service designed to manage classified government data. It is only available in the U.S. and used by the federal, state, local and tribal governments to facilitate various cloud solutions. The service manages government data classified as “secret” and features separate datacenters, network fiber, and personnel. Unlike other Azure products such as Azure Commercial and Azure Government, Azure Government Top Secret includes advanced security within latency-defined perimeters.
The tech giant has stated that the newly added new feature reflects the company’s commitment to national security. With 73 services, the Azure Government Top Secret is solely directed towards gathering, storing, processing, and sharing national security workloads faster and more efficiently. To come up with the service, Microsoft has announced that it has worked in collaboration with the U.S. Government to serve national security missions and inspire leaders across Federal Civil agencies, the Department of Defense (DoD), and the Intelligence Community (IC).
Regarding data classifications, several mission owners work towards making sense of large volumes of data by adopting effective ways to reshape how data is collected, stored, managed, processed, and shared. The intent is to make use of the data to make informed decisions and better their operations. Microsoft’s Azure presents data capabilities by enabling users to process and synthesize data irrespective of location and insights required, such as data fed in by submarines and satellites.
Azure Government Top Secret consists of numerous services designed for mission leaders, for instance, Azure Sentinel and Azure Security Center. However, Microsoft has insisted that it will add more services to make data handling better. The accelerator Multi-INT enabled discovery, MINTED, is essential for converting raw data into useful information through machine learning capabilities.
Mission leaders face numerous challenges, including an unprecedented influx of data from multiple disparate sources, the intricacies of modernizing existing infrastructure, and cybersecurity concerns. According to Microsoft, Azure Government Top Secret addresses all these challenges by bringing market-leading industrial innovation to the government. As a result, it enables mission leaders to gain insights into data while achieving greater agility, unified cybersecurity, and interoperability to meet mission demands.
Microsoft has launched several features for law enforcement, U.S. DoD, and other agencies using the Azure Government Top Secret cloud. Microsoft has stated that these features are authorized by Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 503, as well as DoD Impact Level 6 (IL6). These new functionalities integrated into the service include Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), and Azure Container Instances, essential for developers to adopt and supervise containerized applications.
Azure Sentinel and Azure Security Center are other features available on the Azure Government Secret service designed for integrated threat management. With Azure Monitor, these security and compliance capabilities allow mission leaders to collect, process, and act on telemetry data, whether on-premises or in the Azure environment. Other latest functionalities on the Azure Government Top Secret service include Windows Virtual Desktop, FedRAMP HIGH accreditation, and Availability Zones.
Providing the utmost protection to government data is critical at different levels, and Microsoft has shown commitment to addressing emerging cybersecurity concerns. With ever-changing threats and sophisticated attacks, Microsoft leverages Azure Government Top Secret to defend against any form of attack. The tech giant combines massive signal depth and an assortment of more than eight trillion signals per day, machine learning, revolutionary AI, and top security experts to offer unparalleled protection.
Besides, Microsoft allows mission owners to use products offered by threat intelligence, such as Azure Sentinel, to incorporate numerous security point solutions and progressively analyze, visualize and secure critical state resources in the service, both on-premises or on the cloud. In addition, Azure Security Center scans and provides real-time security against threats.
Organizations require modernized systems and architects from analysts and warfighters to facilitate successful missions. Azure offers secure and sturdy foundations, featuring an open platform for developers to choose their preferred language, frameworks, tools, and platforms to improve missions. Moreover, the service includes industry-specific tools ideal for cloud-native applications and innovative DevSecOps functions to accelerate the path to Authority to Operate (ATO).
The latest Azure Government Top Secret services, including Azure Kubernetes Service and Azure App Service, let mission owners work with extremely sensitive data to offer modern innovations. Standard innovations include serverless workloads and web apps to facilitate security patching and infrastructure maintenance. Azure Government Top Secret also allows mission owners to achieve data residency, resilience, and operations continuity when supporting various national security workloads, regardless of geographical differences.
The service also provides private, high-bandwidth connectivity to Azure ExpressRoute, essential for different regions to familiarize and align with existing programs. This allows mission teams to organize and deploy more efficiently across governance, security, identity, and development. Generally, Azure Government Top Secret enables the government to explore the benefits of cloud services, especially in today’s digital world.
For over four decades, Microsoft has been passionate about addressing the nation’s complex issues while partnering with the Intelligence Community, DoD, and other national security agencies in the U.S. The launch of Azure Government Top Secret helps provide practical solutions to deliver solutions to challenging government issues. Besides, it is an effective way to support the digital transformation of missions, coupled with robust cybersecurity elements.
For more information regarding Microsoft’s Azure Government Top Secret, contact us here at MicroXpress Inc. to learn more today!
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