First Australian Provider Included on Federal Government Certified Cloud Services List

Macquarie Telecom welcomes its inclusion today as the first - and so far only - Australian business on the list of providers that have met the Government's security standards to provide cloud service to the Government.

The Certified Cloud Services List (CCSL) identifies companies approved by the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD).

"The ASD was detailed and thorough and Macquarie is proud that out hard work has been recognised in this way," Aiden Tudehope, Managing Director and Co-Founder, said.

ASD certification complements Macquarie Telecom's appointment to the recently announced Cloud Services Panel established by the Department of Finance.

The Panel and ASD's Cloud List are together critical enablers for supporting federal government agencies outsourcing their ICT arrangements to the cloud. Federal Government policy now mandates a "cloud first" approach to any new ICT projects (including equipment refreshes).

Major General Stephen Day, head of Cyber and Information Security at ASD and also Coordinator of the Australian Cyber Security Centre, said; "The rigorous and detailed certification process overseen by ASD for Cloud Service providers will vive public sector users confidence in making the transition to new technologies and services."

"We are pleased to be working in partnership with industry to ensure that there are a range or providers who can independently demonstrate that they meet the security needs of government in the cloud space."

Security of government data, including citizen data, is a key policy issue for the public sector.

"Our analysis shows governments are increasingly looking for a range of cloud computing services for different data classification use cases." Mr Tudehope said.

"This certification confirms to agencies that Macquarie Telecoms's cloud infrastructure is suitable for senstive government data at the 'Unclassified - DLM' level."

"ASD has highlighted to government a range of risks to be considered when moving to the cloud. CCSL certification will give agencies a more informed basis to determine which provider is the best fit for their security needs when choosing from the new Cloud Services Panel," Mr Tudehope said.

"Macquarie Telecom has worked hard to develop a high standard of specialist security capabilities specifically for the government sector. We have invested heavily in a purpose-built government data centre in Canberra and to create a suite of products, including our GovZone secure cloud. We are delighted to see this product among the first cloud services providers independently certified by ASD as complying with the new cloud security requirements of the ISM," Mr Tudehope said.

"Macquarie Telecom looks forward to other Australian cloud vendors also achieving certification in the near future as further demonstration of the security skills and investments by the Australian ICT industry."

Last updated: Apr 7, 2020 at 12:09 pm CDT