U.S. Shifts On Allowing Defense Data In Cloud

Grazed from WSJ. Author: Joel Schectman.

The U.S. is loosening its policy on how companies may store sensitive defense data, allowing use of cloud services like Google Inc.’s Gmail, provided adequate security steps are taken, according to U.S. State Department officials. The State Department recently told the startup Perspecsys Inc., in an advisory opinion, that it could store defense data in the cloud provided it “take all steps necessary” to make sure only U.S. persons could view the data, according to an official from the agency.

Both Perspecsys and the State Department denied Wall Street Journal requests to review the advisory opinion. To stop rivals from eroding the U.S. military edge, defense contractors are prohibited from bringing both physical arms and information on how to build them out of the U.S., without special permission…

The law, known as International Traffic in Arms Regulations, can apply to both the plans for F-16 jets and more innocuous information like the specs for military handsets that are nearly identical to consumer devices…

Read more from the source @ http://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2014/06/09/u-s-shifts-on-allowing-defense-data-in-cloud/